• 3 min de lectura
• 3 min de lectura
Ramón Rada Jaman is president of the Innovation Commission of the Institute of Mining Engineers of Chile (IMCh).
Along with providing us with a series of productive virtues, the sea has made us a tricontinental and bioceanic nation by geopolitical vocation. In the Month of the Sea, we cannot view the ocean merely as a territorial limit. On the contrary, we must remember its role as a logistical platform, a source of resources, a climate regulator, a commercial corridor, and a geopolitical tool.
Mining is one of the best examples of the strategic role played by the sea, especially in the north, where large-scale work is also associated with the ability to secure water, ports, maritime routes, critical infrastructure, and reliable logistics chains.
In this area, desalination has ceased to be a complementary alternative and has become a key enabler of mining development. Without seawater, a significant portion of projects would face increasingly severe operational, social, and environmental limits, compromising their sustainability.
Therefore, the sea not only accompanies mining, it makes it possible. Thanks to it, operations are supplied, foreign trade is connected, and the continuity of a key industry for the growth of Chile is ensured.
Protecting the sea does not only mean safeguarding sovereignty; it also means defending jurisdictional waters, as well as protecting port infrastructure, submarine cables, commercial routes, ecosystems, and naval capabilities. Today, maritime security is equivalent to energy, food, industrial, technological, and mining security, especially when exploration, connectivity, and competition even reach the seabed and the continental shelf.
Hence, Chile's tricontinental nature cannot remain a symbolic expression but must be a state vision that compels us to think of the country beyond the usual map, understanding that the South Pacific, the Strait of Magellan, Cape Horn, and Antarctica are part of the same equation.
The Strait of Magellan is a natural key between oceans, a space of effective sovereignty, and a platform for austral projection. Therefore, amidst geopolitical tensions, competition for resources, pressure on routes, and growing interest in the poles, Chile must actively ensure its protection and development.
History offers clear examples of our maritime vocation. Arturo Prat, commanding the Esmeralda, marked the republican consciousness; Luis Pardo, in the rescue of Shackleton's crew, demonstrated Chilean expertise; and Policarpo Toro, by promoting the incorporation of Rapa Nui, understood before many that Chile's destiny was also played out towards the Pacific.
Chile cannot aspire to be a mining, energy, logistical, or food power if it does not also recognize itself as a maritime power. The economy of the future will demand greater integration between mining, industry, ports, technology, seawater, clean energy, and oceanic security.
Therefore, the Month of the Sea should be understood as an invitation to reflection beyond the homage to historical milestones. We must also think, with a future vision, about efficient ports, shipyards, naval engineering, oceanic science and exploration, maritime surveillance, environmental protection, fisheries control, Antarctic presence, route security, resilient infrastructure, and a modern, deterrent, and prepared Navy.
Chile begins at sea, where a significant part of our history is explained, a large part of our economy is sustained, and a decisive fraction of our future is projected. In these waters, sovereignty, industry, mining, science, commerce, defense, and national identity intersect. Therefore, we must not forget that Chile begins at sea, and as the motto of our Navy's coastal specialty says, "we are the protectors of the sea."
