French warship Bretagne on port visit in Phl

The French Navy destroyer, Bretagne, is currently docked at the South Harbor in Manila for a five-day port visit in the Philippines. 

The Aquitaine-class frigate, which was developed from the European multi-mission frigate (Fcremm) program, is being commanded by Captain Gwenegan Le Bourhis. 

The multipurpose ship is about 5,000 feet and weighs around 6,000 tons.

It is being operated by 150 crew, 26 of which are women. 

The French warship also embarks an NH-90 helicopter being operated by 15 members from the French Navy squadron. 

It has anti-submarine warfare features and can be used by an NH90 helicopter for landing and take-off. 

It had already set sail to various countries such as India, Indonesia, and the Pacific area.

“We contributed to counter piracy and building up a robust maritime situational awareness in the Indian Ocean made a port visit in Kochi, India, and we entered the Pacific area by crossing the Sunda Strait and conducting a port visit in Jakarta, Indonesia,” Bourhis said.

Bourhis, likewise, noted France’s deployment of its navy ships to the South China Sea in pushing for freedom of navigation missions.

“We started this momentum by our first patrol in the South China Sea to better understand both the maritime actors and the environment in this region,” he said.

“Deploying such a high-capability unit is quite a commitment for the French Navy, and this commitment will be valued by strengthening our bonds with our partners in the region—among which the Philippine Navy,” he added.

Bourhis noted that the French Navy is keen to continue contributing to the stabilization of the Indo-Pacific region by promoting freedom of navigation in its maritime perspective. 

“We advocate for a free and open maritime domain, and we support that by our patrols. Our commitments in many forums and organizations try to support this aim,” he said. 

“We are keen on gathering around us, on the same table, people, countries, Navy, maritime actors, that are sharing common values, which means protections against illegal activities, protection of the populations in case of climate emergency, protection of the environment,” he continued. 

France Ambassador to the Philippines, Marie Fontanel, said her country is keen to increase its French Navy’s maritime interactions with the Philippine Navy. 

“This is the spirit of the letter of intent and the will of both our governments—to intensify and increase the interactions between our armed forces—meaning training together, exercising together,” she said. 

In early May, France joined the Philippines and the United States in conducting a multilateral maritime cooperative activity in the West Philippine Sea as part of the recently concluded Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) Exercises. 

“By the way, the participation in the Balikatan exercise was already a really important first step for us and very interesting to learn better how we operate in the region,” Fontanel said.