Luanda — The Angolan oceanographic ship 'Baía Farta' begins scientific work in the central and southern maritime zones of Angola on Tuesday, three years after its stoppage.
A note from the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources informs that the stoppage was due to the correction of non-conformities in the winch systems of this vessel carried out in docks in South Africa.
"All sea tests were carried out in South Africa, the country where the ship was repaired, and in Angola, ensuring that the intervened equipment is operational under the guarantee of the vessel builder DAMEN Shipyard", the ministerial department.
It clarifies that the aforementioned scientific campaign will be subdivided into two parts. the first in the central area of Angola (Luanda to Benguela) and the second in the south (Benguela to the Cunene River), in a period of 26 days, starting on October 1 of this year.
According to the ministry, the objective is to estimate the abundance of species that have the seabed as their habitat, namely cachuchos, corvinas, groupers, roncadores, hake and deep-sea shrimp.
It advances that, during the research, the resistance of the equipment and the intervened systems, which are still in the warranty period, will be put to the test.
For this operation, he said, ten researchers from the National Institute of Fisheries and Marine Research, seven Angolan crew members and ten expatriates will be on board, led by specialist Maria Sebastião, who will assess demersal resources and, at the same time, collect water samples to determine oceanographic events along the Angolan coast.
It adds that Baía Farta will make stops in Benguela and Namibe, to ensure institutional presence along the entire coast.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources considers it extremely important for Angola to have its own research vessel available, for the systematization of information and substantial improvement of the management of marine resources, as well as to correct bad practices within the Angolan fisheries planning, with a view to ensuring sustainable fishing.
Baía Farta, which arrived in Angola in 2018, encompasses scientific sophistication and technology, devices for researching microplastics occurrences and the installation of an organized auction system (infrastructure implemented on land, in the area of a fishing port or in a riverside area for the commercialization of fish).
The vessel has the capacity to monitor fishing resources, investigate ecosystems and hydrographic and geological surveys.
Upon its arrival in the country, the vessel underwent the first phase of sea tests/trials, which took place from April 1 to 8, 2021, in national and international ocean waters, to assess the overcoming of non-conformities and malfunctions detected along the route Romania (country of origin)/Angola, a test that went well.
Subsequently, Baía Farta carried out its second scientific cruise in Angola, in July 2021, an operation that was suspended, indefinitely, for tuning/calibrating the ship's peripheral equipment.
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This anomaly arose after the first demersal trawl cruise (fishing for species on the seabed, such as sparids, croaker, roncadores, groupers and other types of shoals of commercial interest), held from May 25 to June 3, 2021, in the Northern Region of the country.
With a length of 74.1 meters, the Angolan ship has the capacity to embark 51 people (29 crew members and 22 scientists) and an autonomy of 29 days at sea.
The Baía Farta, budgeted at around US$80 million, has an acoustic room, four laboratories, a gymnasium, double cabins, a kitchen, a service area with 15 command monitors and three computers for the control of the Sonar (an electronic device generally used in naval navigation to measure the distance between the surface of the water and the seabed). QCB/DOJ
