Russian ship 'Akademik Tryoshnikov', the same one that in March was involved in the controversy surrounding the NRP Mondego ship, again passed off Madeira and was accompanied by the Portuguese Air Force, according to the Office of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (EMGFA).

It should be noted that CNN Portugal had reported that the ship had made a crossing off Madeira between Sunday and Monday, and there was no naval interception and follow-up operation, namely by means of the Portuguese Navy.

In a clarification sent to Notícias ao Minuto, the Office of the Head of the EMGFA clarified that the ship's monitoring was done, "even without face-to-face monitoring by naval means."

The EMGFA recalled that the Armed Forces have a set of naval and air assets belonging to the National Force System, "which allows permanent surveillance of the routes of all ships sailing in maritime areas under national jurisdiction and responsibility, regardless of their origin or nationality."

In addition, "the monitoring of the course of this type of ships is not done exclusively with the presence of naval or air assets, but also with the use of automatic positioning systems, namely the AIS (Automatic Identification System), and the sharing of information between allied countries." A "normal" procedure for the surveillance of maritime spaces "under national sovereignty or jurisdiction".

In the specific case, "the monitoring and follow-up of the ship 'Akademik Tryoshnikov' of the Russian Federation was carried out, through the articulated use of air means of the National Force System, belonging to the Portuguese Air Force".

"The operational details of the monitoring activities constitute confidential information," the EMGFA stressed.

The ship in question "made South-North transit with the Automatic Identification System (AIS) on, and it was possible to verify that the transit was being made without changes in course and speed, with no indicators of potential suspicious activity." Thus, "it was possible to maintain a remote monitoring of the AIS signal and the behavior of the ship, even without face-to-face monitoring by naval means."

The EMGFA also noted that "the transit that has now occurred remains with the same level of relevance in terms of follow-up and that this monitoring and monitoring was carried out by the Armed Forces."

It is recalled that this was the same ship that in March passed north of the island of Porto Santo, after a group of military refused to embark for the mission aboard the NPR Mondego.