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The Navy has
not given the nation a reason to mistrust its integrity and
credibility and as a result it would gain ongoing positive and
valued support.
The improvement
on infrastructure, talking of ongoing naval base construction,
acquisition of Patrol Vessel Brendan Simbwaye, and hundreds if
not thousands navy personnel studying abroad indicate that the
navy enters a new page as far as maritime warfare is concerned.
The cold,
thunderstones and shower rain
did not dater the event which was meant only for navy
members to go on. A
joint Line and Marine Corps of four companies and a brass band
formed up at naval base parade ground to listen to Captain Navy
Sinsy Ndeshiningilwa Nghipandua, Chief of Naval Operations as he
outlined successes and barriers experienced in course of
the past five years.
Capt Navy
Nghipandua said, “Throughout the previous five years we put
ourselves to task oversee the project related efforts towards
construction of several naval facilities such as offices,
lodgings, stores and jetties, the dredging of naval harbor,
acquisition of naval assets, further training of naval personnel
and the creation of the marine battalion.
He further
elaborated that all those efforts where executed ingeniously
with limited resources and time constraints.
Chief of Naval
Operations continued to say men and women in white or blue have
been actively carrying out maritime patrol and onshore support
duties to civil and other law enforcement agencies as envisaged
by the Constitution. He also mentioned that the navy like other
Namibian Defence Force (NDF) Arms of Services pledged support to
Southern Africa Development Community Standby Force (SADCSF) and
participated in Excersice-Golphino.
He said
starting from a scratch is not easy as it may look. “Building
and administering a new Force is not easy as running and old and
experience one, adding that “it requires both local and
external expertise.”
He referred
this to the good cooperation and mutual standing between the
Namibian and Brazilian Government, as he went on to say, the
Brazilian experts has been consistently offering advice on part
of naval operation and the presence of Capt Navy Jose Calixto
Dos Santos Junior, Commander of the Brazilian Technical team at
the event justify the Brazilian generosity and long term
standing friendship.
As the case of
discipline, Capt Navy Nghipandwa urged seamen to be obedient to
lawful commands and refrain from whatever may tarnish the name
of the navy.
Establishment
and Commissioning.
The Namibian
Navy emerged in 1994 and the first training of pioneers group
composed of Ship Officer, Ship Captains, Command and Staff
Officers started in 1995 in Brazil. In 1998 the Maritime wing
was established in Windhoek and subsequently the Naval Base in
Walvis Bay in 2000. In 2002 the first Patrol Vessel ORYX was
obtain by means of donation and in 2004 another Patrol Vessel
Dimo Hamaambo was acquired from Brazil, the same year the navy
was commissioned into a full fledge.
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