Soyo - Two amphibious vessels, called Hovercraft, were launched on Saturday, on the riverfront of the municipality of Soyo, Zaire province, by the Border Guard Police, to reinforce patrolling of the border perimeter with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
One of the water vessels will be operating on the “Ponta do Padrão” peninsula, located near the mouth of the Zaire River, while the second one will be used to patrol the coastal area of the other Soyo islands that are located in different tributary channels of the Zaire River.
The aforementioned vessels have a capacity of eight personnel each, two pilots and six operational and reach a speed of 50 Knots, equivalent to 100 km/hour.
Hovercraft is a high-speed amphibious boat that relies on an air cushion to navigate rivers, lakes and is capable of crossing different types of soil.
The launch of the two amphibious boats was part of the operation called “Ponta do Padrão”, which aims to reduce the porosity of the river and land border between the province of Zaire and the Central Congo region (DRC).
The same operation should also include the 3rd Border Guard Police Unit stationed in the municipality of Mbanza Kongo and which also serves the municipality of Nóqui
The second commander of the Angolan Border Guard Police, Commissioner José Estêvão Mingas, who led the event, explained that amphibious systems help both in patrolling and in supporting calamity situations.
“These vessels can also intervene in calamity situations, epidemics that require the evacuation of patients from the Soyo islands to the mainland or the rescue of victims of possible accidents”, he highlighted.
José Estêvão Mingas also laid the first stone for the construction of three observation posts in Ponta do Padrão with their respective monitoring room, which will be equipped with radar surveillance cameras with a range of up to 30 km.
The stations will also have automatic verification systems and other technological resources intended for tracking vessels and other structures of police interest, in the context of combating cross-border transgressions.
The same systems will be revitalized in the Kinzau subunit and at the Vuandembo post, in the municipality of Tomboco, while at the Luvo border post, in the municipality of Mbanza Kongo, the construction of another system with a corresponding monitoring room is underway.
In total, the province of Zaire will have seven observation posts and four monitoring rooms, in the border areas of the municipalities of Soyo, Tomboco, Mbanza Kongo and Nóqui.
The second commander said that the borders of Zaire, Lunda-Norte, Moxico, Cuando Cubango and Cunene continue to deserve greater attention from his troops as they still inspire some precautions in terms of smuggling of fuel and basic goods, as well as the illegal immigration.
The province of Zaire shares a 310-kilometer land and river border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. PMV/JL/DOJ
