Ecuador will host US-led joint naval exercise UNITAS in 2020 after a 17-year hiatus, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said Thursday.

"After 17 years, we will again be the base of UNITAS maneuvers in 2020, along with 15 countries, to strengthen ties and improve the operational capacity of the naval force," Moreno said at a ceremony marking the country's Navy Day in the southwest Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil.

Moreno also thanked the country's navy for protecting "our maritime territory and its resources."

UNITAS, conducted annually by the United States since 1959, includes sea exercises and in-port training and involves several countries in North, South and Central America.

Apart from next year's UNITAS, the Ecuadorian navy will also take part in this year's regional military exercise Anfibia Solidarex, together with Colombia, Peru and the United States, said the president.