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2 French Navy ships arriving at Kochi on goodwill visit
Two French Naval vessels -- Jeanne d' Arc, a helicopter carrier and Georges Leygues, an anti-submarine warfare frigate, will arrive here tomorrow on a five-day goodwill visit.
Two French Naval vessels -- Jeanne d' Arc, a helicopter carrier and Georges Leygues, an anti-submarine warfare frigate, will arrive here tomorrow on a five-day goodwill visit.
Naval sources said French Ambassador to India Jerome Bonnafont, who will be here in connection with the visit, and Captain Herve Blejean and Commander Thierry Catard in command of Jeanne D' Arc and Georges Leygues respectively, are likely to call on Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of Southern Naval Command (SNC) Vice Admiral S K Damle.
The French Naval personnel are expected to visit various SNC establishments and there could be mutual exchange of visits to each others' ships, the sources said.
The last port of call of the vessels was Abu Dhabi and they will leave for Singapore on February 2.
INS Bangaram, will receive the ships off Fairway buoy at 0800 hrs tomorrow and lead them to the harbour.
Commissioned in 1964, Jeanne d' Arc is the third vessel of the French Navy named after the national heroine of France, Jeanne D' Arc, who played a major role in repelling the English invasion during the 100 year's war. The vessel is 182 metres long with a draught of 7.5 metres.
