Following the fuel failure announced by the Navy that would have resulted in the ship’s aborted mission Monday, now another argument appears in the equation: the “human error”. The revelation was made this Wednesday by the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Henrique Gouveia e Melo, in statements on the sidelines of a meeting with the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, in preparation for the celebration of the Navy Day (which takes place in the city, from 18 to 21 May).
To make sure the “Navy isn’t lying,” the admiral said that “the latest incident didn’t stem from any mechanical or platform problems, it was human error” that is under investigation.
This particular case – the most recent one – took place on March 27, when the Monday he aborted a mission on his way to Ilhas Selvagens, where he was to surrender the soldiers of the Maritime Police and the Institute for Forest and Nature Conservation who were present on the spot. At the time, the Navy opened an investigative process that concluded: according to a statement released last Monday, that the “sudden shutdown of four diesel engines, two electrical generators and two thrusters” was due to “low fuel level in the service tank”. After replacing the fuel, the problem was solved. But, according to the same note, “Investigations are being conducted to determine what failed in the alert mechanism response.”
This incident of Monday it was the second in a span of two weeks, after on March 11, 13 soldiers refused to board due to lack of security conditions, preventing them from accompanying a Russian ship to the north of Porto Santo Island. After this episode, Gouveia e Melo addressed the mutineers, saying that the case “can never be ignored and forgotten”.
Moreover, he emphasized, discipline is part of “the timeless and immutable values at the deepest core, a core that can never be questioned under the danger of the military edifice itself collapsing.
The Navy also initiated disciplinary proceedings against the military and passed information to the Military Judicial Police, which will conduct an external criminal trial, of which prison sentences of up to four years may result, with the military guilty of various crimes (insubordination, disobedience and seizure of power, as it was up to the officers on board to assess the security conditions for the mission).
However, the army’s lawyers left criticism of Gouveia e Melo’s behavior, as well as those responsible for the associations of soldiers and sergeants. Garcia Pereira, one of the defense lawyers, even said in an interview with DN/TSF on March 24 that “the trials risk becoming a farce because they are preceded”.
This Tuesday, Gouveia e Melo declined to comment on these allegations and the lawyers’ strategies: “I will not comment on what the lawyers want me to do or not do. We do what we have to do, we comply with the law and legal procedures.”
In addition, the Navy Chief of Staff reiterated that he is “fully focused” on his current duties. This statement followed statements made by Admiral António Silva Ribeiro, former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (he left office on March 1 due to a time limit in his role), who said in an interview with CMTV last Tuesday that a possible Gouveia e Melo’s candidacy for the presidency of the Republic could harm the management of the Armada. “It is Admiral Gouveia e Melo’s role to command the navy. Anything beyond that will only disturb the armed forces, will only disturb the navy,” he reflected in that interview.
Timeline: from denial of service to human error
11 March: First case. 13 soldiers from the garrison of the Monday refusing to board, claiming insufficient security measures. The ship thus failed to follow a Russian ship north of the island of Porto Santo.
March 16: Gouveia e Melo, Chief of Staff of the Navy, spoke to the Monday and spoke directly to the military garrison. He made it clear that the episode was serious and that “it can never be forgotten” and emphasized that the Navy does not send ships on impossible missions.
27 March: Monday leaves for a mission in the Savage Islands. It does not reach its destination for “technical reasons”. An investigation procedure is opened. The next day, the soldiers’ and sergeants’ associations say the cause supports the 13 military mutineers and reinforces the “cry of warning” uttered when they refused to board.
April 3rd: Following the process of investigating the latest failure in the Monday, the Navy reports that the ship actually lost “four diesel engines, two electrical generators and two propellers” en route to the Selvagens Islands. The cause, says Ramo, was “a low fuel level in the service tank”. The ship was subsequently towed but is now operational.
Source: DN
