Posse takeover of the Director-General of the Hydrographic Institute

On 19 November 2015, the inauguration ceremony was held by the Director-General of the Hydrographic Institute (IH), Rear Admiral António Manuel de Carvalho Coelho Cândido, replacing Rear Admiral José Luís Branco Seabra de Melo.

The ceremony, chaired by the Chief of Staff of the Navy and National Maritime Authority (CEMA/AMN), Admiral Luís Manuel Fourneaux Macieira Fragoso, began with the imposition of the Military Medal of the Naval Cross-1.a class to the outgoing Director General, Rear Admiral Seabra de Melo.

This event was attended by various representatives of government departments, government agencies, higher education institutions, research centres, cooperative partners, as well as senior officers, distinguished guests, military, militarized and civilian IH

In his address, as Director-General of the IH, Rear Admiral Coelho Cândido said that the Hydrographic Institute, as a Navy body serving national defense, plays a very important role in supporting naval operations and, in general, maritime operations. In recent years, the excellence of its scientific capacity has enabled the development of innovative products to support the fleet and the National Maritime Authority, which are essential for a more effective and safe intervention in the maritime environment. The Hydrographic Institute associates with this nature the fact that it is a State Laboratory within the country's Scientific and Technological System, in the field of Sea Sciences, focusing on support for maritime, oceanic, coastal, coastal and inland water policies.

The ceremony ended with the speech of Admiral CEMA/AMN, having said a few words to CALM Seabra de Melo for the vast and differentiated set of actions, which contributed greatly to the foundation of the reason for being of the IH, in the space of research and development linked to the sea economy.
Admiral CEMA/AMN stated that the Hydrographic Institute, under the supervision of the Minister of National Defense and its direct dependence, with the status of State Laboratory, has the task of ensuring the carrying out of activities related to the sciences and techniques of the sea, with a view to its military application as well as contributing to the development of the country in the scientific and defense areas of the marine environment, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Agriculture and the Sea.

He also highlighted the Admiral CEMA/AMN, which is in this sense that, adding unique valences in a country of scarce resources, the IH, must continue to affirm itself as an agglutinator pole in areas such as cartography, hydrographic or operational oceanography.