By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE FRENCH NAVY’S maritime units based in the southwestern Pacific are scheduled to join those of Thailand and other Asean member countries in conducting joint naval exercises and patrols, beginning next month.
Under an international umbrella of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Coordination Centre, French naval forces attached to the southwestern Pacific will join ranks with the navies of Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and Thailand in the joint naval exercises and patrols spanning a three-month period beginning next month, according to a navy source.
Among the French maritime units scheduled to join the Asean naval drills in the southwestern Pacific is the French navy’s frigate Vendemiaire which is set to make a six-day port call at Khlong Toey in Bangkok, beginning on Monday.
The 94 crewmembers of the Floreal-class frigate of the French navy may take leave to go places in and around the Thai capital from Apr. 1 until Apr. 6.
Vendemiaire’s home port is Noumea in New Caledonia, one of France’s island territories in the Pacific.
The joint naval exercises and patrols of the Asean navies plus those of Australia and France might possibly occur in the vicinity of submerged coral reefs where maritime disputes have chronically occurred between the Philippine and Chinese navies in the South China Sea.
Warships and Coast Guard vessels of the Philippine and Chinese navies have intermittently engaged in maritime provocations and standoffs around those disputed atolls in the Spratlys Islands.
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Top:The Asean Solidarity Exercise in Natuna 2023 (ASEX-01N), hosted by Indonesia in September 2023, was the first joint military exercise exclusive to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).Photo: Thai Rath
Front Page: Military personnel attend the opening ceremony of a joint-military drills Asean Solidarity Exercise at Batu Ampar port on Batam island, Indonesia, on Sep. 19, 2023. Photo: Antara Foto/Teguh Prihatna/via Reuters and published by CNA
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