Beira Patrol

The Beira Patrol was an operation of the British Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force to enforce a UN embargo against Rhodesia from 1966 to 1975. Following the unilateral declaration of independence in Rhodesia, the United Nations imposed an oil embargo against the state. During the operation, patrolling British ships and aircraft in the Mozambique Channel and controlled oil tankers that sailed into the port of Beira. Beira was the starting point of an oil pipeline to Rhodesia. At the operation several British warships were involved. On April 9, 1966 HMS Berwick brought the Greek tanker Manuela ( in other sources: Manuella ) that transported the oil for Rhodesia, and prevented his drive to Beira. The blockade has been undermined by the Rhodesian side by the use of other ports in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, however, and was ultimately unsuccessful. After Mozambique gained independence, the operation was discontinued.