"We will recruit 25 more people, we will open a competition, then there is the course which is about 15 months and these people, who will be in force at the beginning of 2021, will add to the 39 who recently joined the service," said João Gomes Cravinho.

The official, who was speaking at the end of the commemorative ceremony of the centenary of the Maritime Police in Quarteira, in the municipality of Loulé, stressed that these new admissions take place "for the first time in ten years", allowing more than 10 percent increase in the number of Maritime police.

"We currently have about 530, 540 troops and, by absorbing 60 new ones, we are increasing the Maritime Police force by 10 percent", quantified João Gomes Cravinho, after watching a parade of nautical means of that police force on the beach of Quarteira.

Regarding the possible amendment of the statutes of this force, equating it, in terms of career, with the other police, the Defense Minister said only that "from time to time" it is necessary to "make adjustments", and that there is a "set of ideas" prepared accordingly.

"We have a set of ideas that will be part of a new Maritime Police law for the near future and we are evolving over time," he said, admitting that a "big investment" in the Maritime Police, whether in equipment or in human resources.

The minister also indicated that the new Quarteira Maritime Post and Lifeguard Station should be in operation by early 2020, bridging an "undeveloped area" between Portimão and Olhão, and that it had no Maritime Police base.

The new infrastructures, which will be installed at the fishing port of Quarteira, in a space provided by Docapesca, which manages the Portuguese ports and auction houses, will be added to the conversion of the old lighthouse keeper's building, in the city centre, into five apartments to house the necessary crew.