Her Majesty Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, and His Royal Highness Prince Radu, who were on a two-day visit to the municipality of Constanta, met on Tuesday with the military personnel on the "Queen Maria" frigate, in the seaport, and with students and teaching staff at the "Mircea the Elder" Naval Academy.
Welcomed by the Chief of the Naval Staff (SMFN), Vice Admiral Mihai Panait, the guests boarded the "Queen Maria" frigate, spoke with the military personnel and the ship's management, and were also presented with the frigate, including the combat command center and navigation command.
"Here, we want to convey to you the spirit of Queen Maria and King Ferdinand, because they are defining for the Romanian Naval Forces. (...) We also thank you for your collaboration, for the fact that we can promote in this way our important profession of sailors and develop maritime awareness among Romanian citizens, among the institutions of the Romanian state", the SMFN representative told the two officials.
He also mentioned, among other things, the tragic situation regarding the disappearance of a sailor on board the "King Ferdinand" frigate, on a mission in the Mediterranean Sea, search operations being ongoing.
"We have a tragic, delicate situation on board the 'King Ferdinand' frigate, we are in an important mission to search for a soldier, a sailor missing from the ship, within the framework of the European Union operation in the Mediterranean Sea. At this moment we are involved with four ships, three helicopters, three reconnaissance aircraft in this important search mission. It is part of our job, it is a hard job, but beautiful at the same time and, unfortunately, we also have difficult moments that we go through periodically", said Vice Admiral Mihai Panait.
Prince Radu mentioned that through their visit to Constanta, the representatives of the Royal House of Romania also want to pay tribute to the profession carried out by those in the Romanian Naval Forces and the Romanian military.
"I have come today to pay tribute to your profession and to the Romanian military, to tell you that since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, in all these three years and more, we have dedicated almost exclusively foreign royal visits on behalf of Romania to our military actions and to strengthening national security and the eastern flank. And lately it has become increasingly clear that the Black Sea, as well as the Baltic Sea, are not geographically, but by their purpose, closer than ever. Starting with Finland, which we visited last June, and continuing with Estonia, until today when we are here, we are trying to tell civil societies how much it means that you are here every day. I do not remember, at least in the last 35 years, that the Naval Forces have had such relevance in national defense, national and continental security," Prince Radu said.
Vice Admiral Mihai Panait said that the Romanian Naval Forces are made up of 8,000 military personnel, men and women.
"The Romanian Naval Forces are made up of 8,000 military personnel, men and women, we also have over 2,000 students and pupils, cadets, military and civilians, in the military naval educational institutions. We are an organization that achieves performance, a structure of the armed forces involved in two very important missions, in the last three and a half years, since the beginning of the war. The first mission is to fight against mines originating from the western Black Sea basin, until today 127 marine mines have been discovered and destroyed. (...) At the same time, since the beginning of the war, over 10,000 commercial ships have transited through our area of responsibility, which means that we, the Romanian Naval Forces, are doing a very good job. We are involved day and night in this mission "to maintain freedom of navigation in the area of responsibility of the Romanian Naval Forces on the Black Sea", stated the head of the SMFN.
Her Majesty Margareta and Prince Radu signed the Book of Honor of the frigate, writing the message: "With much admiration and respect for your unparalleled profession and for the perfect example of patriotism and courage that you give to our fellow men!".
Two exhibitions were also organized on board the frigate, one with exhibits from the Romanian Navy Museum and another of naval archives and documents, exhibits from the personal collection of Port Captain Anghel Georgian.
After visiting the said frigate, Her Majesty Margareta and Prince Radu went to the "Mircea the Elder " Naval Academy. They met with students and teaching staff and visited the higher education institution - two navigation simulators, a chemistry laboratory, the museum and the university library.
"You have inspired confidence in me, we move forward with more hope", said Prince Radu before leaving the higher education institution.
Her Majesty Margareta and Prince Radu will visit, on Wednesday, the Constanta Casino and the Carol I Mosque.
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