Circuito FERJEE de Esports 2025 has made headlines, as the Counter-Strike 2 LAN will be held in the unusual setting of an Aircraft Carrier, but you may be surprised to learn it is not the first LAN on an Aircraft Carrier.
The tournament, worth R$240,000 (Approx $43,852), will take place on the Brazilian Aircraft Carrier NAM Atlântico in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 13-15.
NAM Atlântico is an amphibious helicopter carrier that currently serves as the flagship of the Brazilian Navy, but it started its life in the British Navy as HMS Ocean. Commissioned in 1998, she was sold to patrol Brazil’s tranquil waters in 2018, and now she’ll host a Counter-Strike LAN.
Imperial, ODDIK, Sharks and Red Canids will contest the three-day LAN event at Rio’s Pier Mauá. The teams made it to the LAN through a Closed Qualifier tournament, meaning the LAN event will be VRS-ranked, affecting the global rankings.
Imperial, the highest-ranked team in the VRS, will be the favourites with esports betting sites, however, they will have to be cautious of losing ground to their regional rivals as the Budapest Major invitation deadline looms.
Circuito FERJEE de Esports 2025 is not the first Aircraft Carrier LAN
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first LAN on an aircraft carrier. It is at least almost 14 years too late for that accolade. The USS Hornet was home to Nvidia’s GeForce LAN 6 on October 14-16, 2011. The USS Hornet is a floating museum, having been decommissioned in 1970.
The ship was used in action during WWII, and famously recovered the Apollo 11 astronauts as they returned to Earth after their mission to the moon.
GeForce LAN 6 featured 620 players across the casual BYOC, with a small 64-player Battlefield 3 tournament, promoting the game, which was released later that month. According to website legitreviews, the tagline for the event was “I’m on a boat,” a reference to the 2009 Lonely Island song of the same name.
The event was attended by some of the most well-known content creators of the time, with The Yogscast (Britain’s largest YouTube channel in 2011) making content around the BYOC LAN. Certainly a blast from the past…
Still, while Circuito FERJEE de Esports 2025 may not be the first LAN on an Aircraft Carrier, it is certainly going to be the most competitive as the Brazilian teams vie for those precious VRS points in the hope of making the StarLadder Budapest Major in December. The invite cut-off is October 10, so the teams will have to deliver… on a boat.
In July, British Esports, in conjunction with the Royal Navy, added an esports suite to the British flagship, and Aircraft Carrier, HMS Prince of Wales. The facility was intended to improve personnel welfare, as well as “enhance digital skills”, according to British Esports. It seems there is something in the water regarding Aircraft Carriers and esports.
Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.