On January 20th, Chilean Navy’s Galvarino, whose sale to Ecuador had previously been announced, deployed to support national bases in logistical maintenance work, in addition to the removal of cargo and garbage from Antarctic bases.
The deployment of the so-called ” Pacific Rhinoceros ” will take place until approximately March 1, with the aim of supporting national bases in logistical maintenance work, in addition to the removal of cargo and garbage from Antarctic bases, thus fully complying with the strict protocols for the protection of the Antarctic environment framed in the Madrid Protocol. The Unit will also carry out maintenance and conservation of maritime signaling, thus safeguarding human life at sea and reaffirming national sovereignty.
In addition, the ATF “Galvarino” will assume this January 23 as an Antarctic Service ship within the framework of the Combined Naval Antarctic Patrol (PANC).
This operational deployment of naval units -which since 1998 have complied with the provisions of the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue- is carried out together with the Argentine Navy and is part of a series of commitments that are signed every year between the Third Zone Naval and the Austral Naval Area of the Argentine Navy that authorizes the agreements established by the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1984.
The Commander of the ATF “Galvarino”, Lieutenant Commander Francisco Macchiavello, explained that in this commission “We will have the role of safeguarding human life at sea, maintaining the maritime signaling found in that territory and providing logistical support to the bases, and in this way reaffirm the presence and national sovereignty in that territory.”
The Chilean Navy and in particular the Third Naval Zone maintains a permanent action in the white territory through the Antarctic Campaigns that have developed uninterruptedly in the course of recent years. Each of these supports marks an important milestone in institutional tasks, where logistics support tasks are essential for the different national and international operations on the White Continent.