French Ship visits Ghana

The French Navy Ship, "TCD OURAGAN", will dock at Tema Harbour on December 5, for a three day visit as a sign of strengthening the existing ties between the Navies of the two countries.

A joint exercise at sea will notably be organized.

"TCD OURAGAN" is one of the four landing platform dock ships operated by the French Navy, like her sister ship the "ORAGE" which paid a visit to Ghana last year.

TCD OURAGAN is capable of landing and supporting a mechanized armoured regiment of the French rapid deployment force, a statement from the French Embassy said in Accra.

It said her three missions were the landing of infantry and armoured vehicles on unprepared coasts, mobile logistics support for naval forces and humanitarian relief missions.

Since September 2002, "TCD OURAGAN" has been under the command of Captain Yves-Marie Marechal who attended the French Naval Academy. He became a mine clearing diver officer in 1988, commanded the first group of mine clearing divers at Cherbourg from 1993 and the minesweeper Lyre based in Toulon from 1996 to 1998, the statement said.