The strong friendship between the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) and the French Navy was highlighted by captain of the French Navy ship Vendémiaire Commander Sébastien Drouelle during the ship’s arrival yesterday.
The ship last visited the Sultanate in 2021.
He said, “We are currently on a three-month deployment to Southeast Asia and we are visiting our counterpart in Brunei Darussalam.
“We come from the Philippines and will stay in Brunei for three days then move on to Darwin, Australia. We are already two-third into our deployment.
“We will be having engagement with the RBN, including a seminar on cybersecurity and a basic manoeuvring exercise.”
Commander Sébastien Drouelle also said, “Every time a French navy‘s asset arrives in the region, we will try to conduct exercises with the RBN.
“RBN has participated in major naval exercises such as RIMPAC, and we are very pleased to invite RBN to join a naval exercise at New Caledonia in 2025.”
He shared that the ship “was commissioned in 1991 and has been based in New Caledonia for many years. There are 100 crew members on board. One of our main assets is our helicopter. Our mission is based on cooperation as well as humanitarian and disaster relief efforts. Last October, the ship delivered humanitarian cargoes to Papua New Guinea”.
French Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Bernard Regnauld-Fabre also paid a visit to Vendémiaire. – James Kon
