Can anyone provide some details on how active Portugal's merchant fleet was between 1939-45, and in what areas it operated? I am aware of fishing fleets operating in the North Atlantic and the waters around Macau, but as for cargo or passenger carrying vessels, I'm in the dark.
For example, did Portugal maintain shipping links between Europe and its overseas colonies (Mozambique, Goa, Macau, etc.) during the war? Or were these cut off? I know there were Portuguese-flagged merchant vessels present at Macau in 1941 on the outbreak of the Pacific War, but I don't know how regularly they were able to operate after that, given the Japanese naval blockades around the South China Sea. Goa and Mozambique I know virtually nothing about in this field.
Portuguese wartime merchant shipping
Re: Portuguese wartime merchant shipping
Hi
There's some info here (mainly about the fishing fleets) and maybe further into the Blog it'll have some info
specifically about the aspects your looking at!
https://naviosavista.blogspot.com/2008/ ... 2-and.html
The only thing I'll add is that any Portuguese merchant vessel, if on the open ocean would have had to have had a Navcert
before setting sail either to or from a Allied or even a neutral port. Not having one would have rendered the vessel ripe for
boarding and embargo of the contents etc.
Regards
Andy H
There's some info here (mainly about the fishing fleets) and maybe further into the Blog it'll have some info
specifically about the aspects your looking at!
https://naviosavista.blogspot.com/2008/ ... 2-and.html
The only thing I'll add is that any Portuguese merchant vessel, if on the open ocean would have had to have had a Navcert
before setting sail either to or from a Allied or even a neutral port. Not having one would have rendered the vessel ripe for
boarding and embargo of the contents etc.
Regards
Andy H
Re: Portuguese wartime merchant shipping
^ Thanks, I'll check out that source.
I'm sure ships entering or leaving Portugal were subject to NavCert, but was it enforced in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific? I'd have thought that Mozambique and Goa were outside the reach of that system. I definitely know that Macau was (the Japanese navy was running the South China Coast for most of the war).
I'm sure ships entering or leaving Portugal were subject to NavCert, but was it enforced in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific? I'd have thought that Mozambique and Goa were outside the reach of that system. I definitely know that Macau was (the Japanese navy was running the South China Coast for most of the war).