The French Embassy in Pretoria announced on Monday that the French Navy’s patrol frigate Nivôse was to enter Durban on Tuesday, for a four-day visit to South Africa’s largest port. The ship would depart on Saturday.

The visit served to highlight the bilateral maritime cooperation between the two countries, the Embassy noted. It would also serve to strengthen the cooperation between the French and South African armed forces.

“This mission of the Nivôse includes ensuring French sovereignty in [the] south of the Indian Ocean, carrying out fisheries controls, fighting drug trafficking and preventing piracy in [sic] the coast of Somalia,” explained the Embassy. “This demanding mission will take the crew to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, a remote area with difficult climatic conditions.”

The Nivôse was the third ship in the six-strong Floréal-class of “surveillance frigates”, as the French Navy classified them. It entered into operational service at the start of 1992 and was assigned to New Caledonia in the Pacific. In 2001, it was reassigned to Reunion in the Indian Ocean. It had a displacement of 2 950 t, a length of 94 m and a beam (width) of 14 m.

The ship carried a crew of 14 officers and 74 petty officers and junior ratings and could also embark up to 25 commandos. It was armed with one 100 mm gun, two 20 mm cannons and four 12.7 mm heavy machine guns. Equipped with a hangar and flight deck, it carried one Airbus Helicopters Panther helicopter.

The Nivôse formed part of the French Navy’s permanent squadron in the Indian Ocean. The other vessels in this force were the Nivôse’s sister-ship, Floréal, the “Overseas Support and Assistance Ship” Champlain, and the patrol boat Le Malin, plus minor naval units at Mayotte. This squadron and its base at Port-des-Galets in Reunion in turn formed part of the (French) Armed Forces in the Southern Indian Ocean command, which had a total strength of 1 700 uniformed personnel from all three armed forces, plus 300 civilians.