French Navy delivers cyclone relief to Tonga [1]
Thursday, March 1, 2018 - 16:16. Updated on Thursday, March 1, 2018 - 16:57.
French Navy Ship, D’Entrecasteaux, delivered cyclone relief items to Tonga after detouring from its normal navigation trip in the Pacific soon after Cyclone Gita struck Tongatapu and ‘Eua on the evening of 12 February.
The ship brought 46 cubic meters of items from Suva, Fiji, including tents, medical equipment, water and food parcels for those affected by the cyclone.
D'Entrecasteaux Lt. Commander (LTCDR) Matthieu Ruf said that the ship, based in New Caledonia, was patrolling in the French Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Wallis and Futuna when Cyclone Gita hit Tonga.
“As soon as the French headquarter informed of the damages caused by the cyclone on the Tonga Islands, the multi-role vessel was diverted to Suva in order to load relief supplies from UNICEF, UNFPA and Digicel.”
LTCDR Ruf said they only needed a few hours to load the material in Suva and “sailed towards Nuku’alofa at maximum speed”.
The ship reached Tonga on 23 February to offload the aid items, and its crew also set to work helping the communities.
“All relief supplies were disembarked on the same day and taken in charge by the NGOs for a quick delivery.”
“The 31-crew members had the opportunity to work together with UNICEF, the city of Nuku’alofa, and NEMO in setting up tents and clearing school areas of fallen trees,” he said.
The D'Entrecasteaux is a Bâtiment multi-mission (B2M) modern multi-purpose supply vessel, measuring 66 metres long and 14 metres wide, and fitted with state-of-the-art technology.
It also contains a crane capable of moving a 10-tonne payload and has the capability to transport and support 6 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit).