Secretary of the Navy (Mexico)

The Secretary of the Navy (SEMAR) is one of the nineteen state secretaries that, together with the Legal Department of the Federal Executive, make up the legal cabinet of the president of Mexico. Along with the Secretariat of National Defense, it is the office of the federal executive branch with functions of the Ministry of Defense. It is responsible for designing, planning, executing and coordinating public policies related to the branch of the Armed Forces that it administers: the Mexican Navy.

The above includes training, programming and projecting all actions linked to the eventual use of naval personnel for their main tasks (defense of territory and national sovereignty, guaranteeing internal security and implementing the Marine Plan in case of disasters); monitor and inspect compliance with Mexican laws and international maritime law in the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone; direct the navy in case of war; manage the labor relations and rights of civil and naval personnel who work for it; maritime safety in terms of rescue, search and rescue; direct the country's naval industry; build, conserve and dispose of all naval infrastructure required to fulfill its obligations, including advice on civil communication routes that may be used for defense; advise other secretariats when, in the exercise of their functions, national security is involved; direct naval education and health systems; administer the naval justice system; command the coast guard; supervise and safeguard merchant and passenger vessels; promote and implement scientific or technological development work linked to the sea; and monitor the conservation of protected natural areas.

With the name of Secretary of State and the Office of War and Navy, it was founded on November 8, 1821. It was not until 1944 that it acquired its current name, when the Secretary of Defense left to be in charge of the Mexican Navy, and the Department of the Navy was separated from its organizational chart to be elevated to the Secretary of the Navy.

Functions

According to the Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration in its Article 30 it is responsible for the dispatch of the following functions:

• I.- Organize, administer and prepare the Navy;
• II.- Manage the assets and reserves of the Navy in all its aspects;
• III.- Grant licences and withdrawals, and intervene in the pensions of members of the Navy;
• IV.- Exercise:
  • a. Sovereignty in the territorial sea, its airspace and coasts of the territory;
  • b. Surveillance, visit, inspection or other actions provided for in the legal provisions applicable in the Mexican marine areas, coasts and harbour enclosures, without prejudice to the powers corresponding to other units. Where in the exercise of these functions, the possible commission of an act which the law signals as a crime shall be made available to the competent authority to persons, objects, instruments and products relating thereto, and
  • c. The measures and powers that give it the legal systems and the international instruments to which Mexico is a party, in the Contiguous Zone and in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
• V.- Exert the National Maritime Authority in the Mexican marine areas, coasts, ports, harbour enclosures, terminals, marines and national port facilities; and, where appropriate, national waters where activities of their competence are carried out in the following areas:
  • (a) Compliance with the national legal order in matters falling within its competence;
  • (b) Maritime safety, security in case of accidents or incidents of vessels and search and rescue to safeguard human life at sea and control of maritime traffic;
  • (c) Prevention of marine pollution from naval vessels or artefacts, as well as dumping of wastes and other materials to the sea other than wastewater, and
  • (d) Maritime and port protection, in the terms of the international treaties to which the Mexican State is a party and the national regulations on the subject, without prejudice to the powers corresponding to other units of the Federal Civil Service;
• VI.- Conducting military naval education and merchant nautical education;
• VI Bis.- Regular, promote and organize the merchant marine, and establish the requirements to be met by the technical staff of the merchant marine and grant the respective licences and authorizations;
• VII.- Maintain the rule of law in the Mexican marine areas, coasts and harbour enclosures, performing coastal guard functions through the Navy;
• VII Bis.- Establish and direct the Search and Rescue Service for the safeguarding of human life at sea;
• VII Ter.- Regular, monitor the safety of navigation and human life at sea and supervise the merchant marine;
• VII Quater.- Manage and operate maritime signaling, as well as provide information and safety services for maritime navigation;
• VIII.- Inspecting the services of the Navy;
• IX. To build, rebuild and retain the port works required by the Navy and the Marine Secretariat, as well as the maritime, port and dredging works required by the country and, where appropriate, to authorize them when they exceed their technical and operational capacities;
• X.- Establish and manage the warehouses and fuel and lubricant stations of the Navy;
• XI.- To execute the hydrographic works of the coasts, islands, ports and waterways, as well as to organize the archive of maritime letters and related statistics;
• XII.- Intervene in the granting of permits for scientific, foreign or international expeditions or explorations in national waters;
• XII Bis. Adjudicate and grant contracts, concessions and permits for the establishment and operation of services related to water communications and transport with ships or naval devices;
• XII Ter. Coordinate the implementation of the necessary actions with the other units of the Federal Civil Service, in order to comply with the national and international provisions on maritime matters, in the field of their competence;
• XIII.- Intervening in the administration of military justice;
• XIV.- To build, maintain and operate shipyards, dams, rods, dredges, units and naval and aircraft establishments, for the fulfillment of the mission of the Mexican Navy, as well as to provide services in the area of its competence that contribute to the national maritime development, in accordance with the applicable provisions and in accordance with the policies and programmes that the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport determines for such development;
• XIV Bis. Coordinate in the marine and river ports the marine and port activities and services, the means of transport that operate in them and the main, auxiliary and related services of the general channels of communication for their efficient operation and operation;
• XIV Ter. Manage the centralized ports and coordinate those of the parastatal administration, and grant concessions and permits for the occupation of the federal zones within the harbour enclosures;
• XIV Quater. Establish technical standards for the operation and operation of public water communications and transport services and fees for the collection of such services; grant concessions and permits, and set the rates and rules for the implementation of all maritime, port, auxiliary and related maneuvers and services related to water communications and transport; and participate with the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit in the establishment of the tariffs for the services provided by the Federal Public Administration;
• XV.- To give a national security opinion on the construction of all kinds of general water communication routes and their parts, related to maritime port engineering and marine signaling;
• XVI.- Organizing and providing naval health services;
• XVII.- To schedule, promote, develop and execute, without prejudice to the powers of other units, scientific and technological research in the maritime sciences, creating the necessary research institutes;
• XVIII.- Integrate the national oceanographic information archive, and
• XIX.- To conclude agreements in the field of their competence with other national or foreign units and institutions, in the terms of international treaties and in accordance with existing legislation;
• XX.- To exercise actions to carry out national defence and security in the area of their responsibility, in terms of applicable legal provisions;
• XXI.- Participate and carry out its actions within the framework of the national civil protection system for the prevention, assistance, recovery and support of the population in disaster situations;
• XXII.- Acquire, design and manufacture armaments, ammunition, costumes, and all kinds of naval means and material ingenuities, as well as to intervene in the import and export of these, when they are exclusively used by the Ministry of Marine-Armada of Mexico;
• XXIII.- To provide the auxiliary services required by the Navy, as well as the support services to other federal units, the federative entities and the municipalities that request it or when indicated by the head of the Federal Executive;
• XXIV.- To intervene, in the area of its responsibility, in the protection and conservation of the marine environment without prejudice to the corresponding powers to other units;
• XXV.- Inspect, patrol and carry out reconnaissance and monitoring work to preserve, the Protected Natural Areas, in coordination with the competent authorities and in accordance with the applicable provisions, and
• XXVI.- Others that expressly attribute to you laws and regulations

Organisation chart

To carry out these functions, the Secretary of the Navy has the following administrative bodies:

Office of the Secretary of the Navy

• Inspection and Comptroller General de Marina
• Naval Board
• Admiral Board
• General Staff of the Navy
• Legal Unit
• Unit for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
• Headquarters of the High Command
• Mexican Navy Special Operations Unit
• Naval Intelligence Unit
• Naval Police Unit
• Technology Research and Development Unit
• Port Offices and Maritime Affairs Unit
• Naval forces
  • Naval regions
    • Naval areas
      • Naval sectors

Undersecretariat of the Navy

• General Directorate of Naval Construction
• General Service and Hydrographics Directorate

General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine

• General Directorate of Ports
• General Directorate of Merchant Marina
• Directorate-General for the Promotion and Port Management

Senior Officer's Office

• General Directorate of Human Resources
• General Directorate of Administration and Finance
• Naval University

Naval Educational System

The Naval Educational System is the set of academic, training and specialization institutions administered by the Navy. Its purpose is the dissemination, training and application of sciences and arts in the naval field; especially to satisfy the needs of service units (engineers, health, etc.) outside the training field entirely of the technique and tactics of the navy.

This system is directed and operated by the Secretary of the Navy through the Rectorate of the Naval University, it is made up of colleges, schools, study centers and various application, training and improvement courses.

Naval University

• Engineering School in Naval Systems.
• School of Engineering in Aeronavale Systems.
• School of Engineering in Hydrography.

Officer Training Schools:

• Heroica Military Naval School;
• Naval Intendency School;
• Naval Machinery School;
• Naval Electronics School;

Academic Polygons:

• Center for Naval Studies in Health Sciences.
  • Naval Medical School.
  • Naval Nursing School.
  • Graduate School in Naval Health.
• Centro de Estudios Aeronavales.
  • Naval Aviation School.
  • Naval Aviation Mechanics School.
  • Training and Training Centre for Flight Trips.
  • Integral Training Centre for Survival at the Sea.
• Mexican Navy Training and Training Center.
  • Naval Intendency School.
  • Naval Electronics School.
  • Mar Scale School.

Graduate Schools:

• Naval Higher Studies Center.
• Graduate School in Naval Health.

Research Institutes

• Institute of Strategic Research of the Mexican Navy.
• SEMAR Health Science Research Institute.
• Oceanographic Institute of the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea.
• Pacific Oceanographic Institute.

Training Centers

• Specialized Marine Training and Training Centre.
• Training Centre for Command and Control System.
• Sail Training and Training Centre.

List of secretaries

Logos

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  Logo used during the presidency of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012)

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  Logo used during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018)

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  Current logo during the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024)