Special WSB: Navy Day

By Rafael Bortoloti

This Wednesday, June 11, Brazil celebrates Navy Day.

The date (marks, recalls, “honors”) the Naval Battle of Riachuelo, which took place exactly 160 years ago on the Riachuelo creek, a tributary of the Paraná River in Argentina. The Brazilian fleet’s victory is widely seen as a turning point in favor of the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay) against the Paraguayan forces during the Paraguayan War (1864–1870).

In the Battle of Riachuelo, Brazil was led by Admiral Barroso, whose name today is carried by one of Petrobras’s most important FPSOs. The unit – FPSO Almirante Barroso – operates in the Búzios field, part of the pre-salt layer in the Santos Basin.