Angolan president João Lourenço re-inaugurated Monday (10) the Naval Base located in Soyo municipality, northern Zaire province, as part of 47th anniversary of the Angolan Navy celebrated on July 10.
João Lourenço re-inaugurated the infrastructure, which had benefitted from a facelift, in his capacity as commander-in-Chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA).
Soyo Naval Base occupies an area of 111,500 square metres. It has an access channel and a manoeuvring basin, which leads to dredging of 6.1 million cubic meters of land, and which include the quay, 330 meters long, as well as the three quay bridges, with a total length of 374 meters.
The infrastructure also has a floating footbridge of 115 meters which will serve for the mooring of light vessels, landing pads, among others.
In addition to the new facilities, the road works also include the former military base, which will be used for administrative support services, physical activities, canteen, fire extinguishing systems and energy.
The upgrading of the military infrastructure began in March 2021. It is a support unit for the northern naval region and, in addition to Zaire, will cover the provinces of Luanda, Bengo and Cabinda.
The project is part of the reinforcement and re-equipment programme of naval resources, underway in the Navy, which is tasked with ensuring maritime surveillance and security.
The entry into service of the new infrastructure of the Soyo naval base will bring gains to the country, particularly in the deployment of forces to carry out missions in the areas of Angolan responsibility, with emphasis on the Gulf regions of Guinea, the Great Lakes and others on the African continent.
Bathed by the Atlantic Ocean, Angola has a coastline of 1,650 kilometers from north to south.
Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)