Every July 16th, Argentina commemorates Argentine Interests at Sea Day, in honor of Vice Admiral Segundo Storni, a pioneer in the construction of a naval doctrine focused on national sovereignty and the strategic use of the sea.

Born in Tucumán on July 16th, 1876, Storni graduated from the Military Naval School in 1894 and since then dedicated his career to the study of Argentina's maritime heritage. In a context dominated by the classical naval paradigm, he analyzed with innovative vision the potential of the sea as a source of resources and a means of integration. He promoted the need to consolidate a national maritime conscience, with a scientific basis, and left an institutional legacy that included the creation of the Argentine Oceanographic Institute. He also held the position of Chief of the General Staff of the Navy and was the author of fundamental technical and popularization works of the time.

In June 1916, his lectures published in the newspaper La Prensa marked a milestone in Argentine maritime thought. There he proposed an integral and sovereign vision on maritime spaces, highlighting the importance of a collective and federal conscience around the sea. “When a port is built, a channel is deepened, a ship is acquired or a pilot is trained, coastal interests are served as the interests of those who plant sugar cane or shear sheep at the foot of the mountain range”, clearly warned the sailor from Tucumán.

His legacy was recognized by the National Congress through the sanction of Law Nº 25.860, in 2003, which officially instituted July 16 as the Day of Argentine Interests at Sea. This tribute recalls not only his prolific work and influence in international conferences on the Law of the Sea, but also his firm defense of the strategic role of the continental shelf, the Malvinas Islands, Antarctica and the Merchant Marine.