Argentine Naval Prefecture

The Argentine Naval Prefecture (Spanish: Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of Argentina's Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coast guards, and furthermore acts as a gendarmerie force policing navigable rivers.

Argentine Naval Prefecture
Prefectura Naval Argentina
Emblem of the Prefecture.
AbbreviationPNA
MottoRobur et quies iuxta litora et in undis
Valour and safety in coasts and waters
Agency overview
FormedJune 1810
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency
(Operations jurisdiction)		Argentina
Operations jurisdictionArgentina
Legal jurisdictionAs per operations jurisdiction
General nature
Specialist jurisdiction
  • Coastal patrol, marine border protection, marine search and rescue.
Operational structure
HeadquartersAve. E. Madero 235, Buenos Aires
Elected officer responsible
  • Patricia Bullrich, Minister of Security
Agency executives
  • Prefect General Eduardo Scarzello, National Prefect
  • Prefect General Hugo Ilacqua, National Subprefect
Parent agencyMinistry of Security
Zones
10
  • Alto Paraná
  • Alto Uruguay
  • Paraná Superior and Paraguay
  • Lower Uruguay
  • Lower Paraná
  • Delta
  • Río de la Plata
  • North Argentine Sea
  • South Argentine Sea
  • Lacustre and Comahue
Facilities
Helicopters7
Planes10
Website
argentina.gob.ar/prefecturanaval
Phone: 54 11 4318 7400
March: March of the Naval Prefecture

According to the Argentine Constitution, the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic cannot intervene in internal civil conflicts, so the Prefecture is defined as a civilian "security force of a military nature". It maintains a functional relationship with the Ministry of Defense, as part of both the National Defense System and the Interior Security System. It therefore maintains capabilities arising from the demands required by joint military planning with the armed forces.

The PNA is a large organization for a coastguard. With a strength of 45,750 sworn members, the PNA is a larger organization than most national navies, and is in fact slightly larger than the Argentine Navy – the organization upon which it had been attached for a long time until the 1980s, when it was transferred to direct control of the Ministry of Defense.

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