Vasco Cordeiro announces replacement of vessel "Arquipélago" to improve research of the Azores Sea
The President of the Government announced today that, under the next Community funds, the Region will replace the vessel "Arquipélago" with a new vessel with better conditions for scientific research in the Azores Sea.
“In the next cycle of Community funds, one of the first measures to be implemented by the Azores will be the replacement of the research vessel "Arquipélago" with a new one, which be more and better equipped from a scientific and technological standpoint. It will also have greater capacity and more autonomy, allowing us to go further and deeper in the study and knowledge of the Azores Sea," said Vasco Cordeiro.
At the opening of the Azores Maritime School (EMA) on the island of Faial, a ceremony attended by the Minister of the Sea, Ricardo Serrão Santos, the President of the Government stated that the amendment to the Basic Law on Maritime Spatial Planning and Management, recently approved at the National Assembly, entails the "imperative need" to strengthen the Region's capacity to "make good decisions" in this area.
"As for the various challenges that still lie ahead of us, the one that we have to overcome is the challenge of improving the conditions to exponentially expand the information and knowledge that we have about the Sea surrounding us," defended Vasco Cordeiro
In this regard, he considered that a strong investment in research, monitoring, the discovery of new species, the promotion of marine biotechnology, technological development, mapping of funds, among others, are “essential aspects to know and, therefore, to make good decisions” in matters related to the Sea.
At the opening ceremony of EMA, the President of the Government considered that the approval of the Basic Law on Maritime Spatial Planning and Management at the National Assembly was a historic moment, as it established the principle of shared management of the sea, already set out in the Political-Administrative of the Azores since 2009.
According to him, the heritage of regional policies demonstrate that, over the past 40 years, Autonomy has been essential for the Region to become a reference in terms of the sustainability of resources, with the University of the Azores playing a key role in research on the Sea.
"All this attest to the legitimacy conferred upon the Azores, derived from the merit and results of their policies, which is further reinforced by the formal and legal legitimacy for this intervention," stressed Vasco Cordeiro.
According to the President of the Government, this amendment to the law does represent the exclusion of anyone, but, above all, the inclusion of the Azores and the Azoreans in the process of deciding on a resource that “is not just ours, but concerns us more directly and immediately."
The responsibility to reconcile various regional and national perspectives, the responsibility to reconcile positions, the responsibility to integrate regional goals into broader goals and the responsibility to, given our situation, to overcome challenges that still lie ahead of us. It also represents the confidence of knowing that in the garden in front of our house - and that garden is the Sea - we will know what happens, when it happens, how it happens and what impacts it will have. And we have to accept that it happens,” stressed the President of the Government.
In addition, this amendment represents the need to mobilise skills and resources as an Autonomous Region, so that the national strategic plan for the Sea may be achieved, said the government official.
“This is why I am in a position to announce that, once the Law is promulgated by the President of the Republic and enters into force, we will formally initiate contacts, within one month from that date, with the National Government to issue its opinion on our Maritime Spatial Planning Plan for the Azores Sea, already drawn up by the Regional Government," added the President of the Government.