French Navy ship “BPC Tonnerre” arrived at Tema Harbour on Saturday January the 5th. It will cast off on Thursday January the 8th.
The purpose of the visit is to reinforce the existing ties between the French Navy and the Ghanaian naval forces.
Under command of Captain François Majoufre since July 2013, the French Landing Helicopter Deck (LHD) “Tonnerre” has a staff of 29 officers, 152 petty officers and 71 seamen.
This LHD is the second biggest French Navy ship after the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. It can be involved in a wide variety of operations, such as crisis prevention, participation in UN peacekeeping missions, NATO and EU operations, population rescue interventions, helicopter or amphibious operations, flagship and command of a force, troops and freight transportation, and health support.
Whilst alongside in Tema harbour, LHD Tonnerre is conducting training activities with the Ghanaian Navy, which includes firefighting, navigation, gunnery, communications and boarding exercises.
From January 19 to 21 2015, it is also involved into the Nemo multilateral exercise, which aims to develop the coordination between the main Navies in the area of the Gulf of Guinea.
The ambition of this exercise is to enable and facilitate the sharing of information, the monitoring of suspicious activities and the coordination of the appropriate actions.
Source: GhanaWeb
