"exceptional bravery at sea" from the International Maritime Organization for its successful attacks on pirate activity, conducted by Corte Real during the peak of pirate activity. In parallel with its military roles, the Portuguese Navy continued to assume an important scientific role, mainly in the scope of the oceanographic and hidrographic research. The scientific missions of the Navy are led by the Hydrographic Institute, with the support of the Hydrographic Ships Group. One important role in this area is the support to the Mission for the Extension of the Continental Shelf of Portugal, that has been given since 2004. For this mission, the hydrographic surveys carried away by the Dom Carlos I-class research ships have been crucial. The success of this mission, allowed Portugal to be able to substantiate and present its Extended continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical miles claim to the United Nations in 2009. If the claim is accepted, the Portuguese Continental Shelf will become one of the largest in the World. In the 2010s, the Portuguese Armed Forces created the Immediate Reaction Force (FRI, Força de Reação Imediata), with the main mission conducting operations of evacuation of Portuguese citizens from regions under crisis or tension. The initial core of its naval component—with an operational readiness of 48 hours—has permanently assigned a frigate, a corvette, a Marine company, a sappers divers detachment, a mine warfare detachment and, when available, a submarine and a fleet tanker. The Navy' Special Actions Detachment is assigned to the special operations component of the force. The FRI—including its naval component—was activated and pre-positioned in Cape Verde in April 2012, prepared to intervene in Guinea-Bissau if needed, following a military coup that occurred in that country. The Navy is also developing the Portuguese Task Group (PO TG), a naval force aimed to guarantee a naval warfare national autonomous capacity. This force is intended to act as a naval element of power projection, able to intervene in any place of the national interest strategic space of Portugal. The PO TG is planned to include submarines, ocean escorts, amphibious and logistical support ships, Marine and special operations forces, divers units and hydrographic ships. An important element will be a landing platform dock ship, whose planned acquisition has been however delayed. The readiness of the PO TG has been regularly trained and evaluated in the INSTREX series naval exercises. Organization The Portuguese Navy is under the