Praia da Vitória is among the five small naval bases the Portuguese Navy wants to set up on the mainland and autonomous regions, with operational and recruitment advantages in mind. In Terceira, one of the motivations will be to support anti-submarine missions.
The port of Praia da Vitória should be joined by Lisbon, Viana do Castelo, Portimão, and Funchal.
The Navy believes that the “greater geographical dispersion” is an asset. According to an article published in the “Correio da Manhã” newspaper, which quotes an “official branch source”, the project currently being planned is based on “creating and developing small logistical bases, similar to the Naval Support Points that already exist in Portimão and Troia”, in the North, Azores, and Madeira.
These bases are intended to “reinforce logistical support, as well as carrying out more complex maintenance work, for the ships assigned to these areas, allowing for a possible regionalization of resources, with economic and operational gains”.
The Armada is quoted as saying that the bases “will allow the deployment of military personnel who are native to the places where they are located, thus increasing the supply of placements outside the Lisbon Metropolitan Area” and “boosting the recruitment of people who are native to or live in the geographical vicinity of the Naval Support Points.”

Correio da Manhã reports that “the dispersal and pre-positioning of the ships has strategic objectives in addition to maritime surveillance and security: in the Azores, the protection of critical underwater infrastructures and anti-submarine warfare; in Madeira, access to the west coast of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea; in Portimão, against drug trafficking and other threats from the south; and Viana do Castelo could be the base for a patrol to monitor fishing.”
Interest in the port of Praia da Vitória has become more evident in recent months. As DI reported at the beginning of January, Lajes Base will provide permanent support for the operations of the P-8 aircraft used for submarine search and maritime patrol missions.
The Department of Defense, specifically the US Navy, has launched a tender to contract a construction project that aims to upgrade facilities at Lajes Base.
In October, DI also reported that the Embassy of the United States of America, in a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requested an assessment of the entire port basin of Praia da Vitória in order to “increase access” to US Navy ships.
In the document dated August 23rd of last year, the embassy specified that it was an infrastructure engineering and hydrographic study, part of a program designed to allow greater access to ports of interest for ships of the Sixth Fleet (Atlantic fleet).

in Diário Insular–José Lourenço-director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)