Owing to their rapid projection force, the French armed forces in New Caledonia (FANC) and in French Polynesia (FAPF) give France the ability to ensure the security of its territories in those areas. This protection is extended to our partners, especially in case of natural disasters. Because of global warming, the latter are increasingly frequent in the Indo-Pacific region.

In that framework, Lieutenant-Commander Romain Docquois, then commander of the Navy patrol boat La Glorieuse, headed Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Operation Tonga Assist. From 24^th January to 1^st February 2022, the French armed forces in the Pacific have carried out several humanitarian assistance and relief missions in the Tonga islands, struck by a volcanic eruption.

How have you been sent on that mission?

It is worth noting that the entire crew was on leave. The armed forces headquarters in New Caledonia contacted me. They wanted to use our patrol boat, La Glorieuse, the only vessel available in the area at that time. Yet this was not at all our real job. What is remarkable with the thirty sailors of the crew, is their innovation capabilities. They transformed a patrol boat into a logistic support and assistance vessel. They have been ingenious, resilient and quick. Our mission was to help the Tonga islands by quickly conveying humanitarian freight. We embarked 26 cubic meters on Monday, 24^th January 2022 and arrived on site on Thursday morning.

What was the situation like when you arrived?

It was difficult for three reasons. The first: the Covid threat was present in Nouméa and we had to intervene in a country preserved from that disease. We could not add an epidemic disaster to a natural one. We had to find a sanitary protocol to unload the freight without having contacts with the population. We had no physician or laboratory aboard our patrol boat. The second difficulty was that large number of international stakeholders on site. (approximately nine nations) There was a massive influx of humanitarian freight.

The last one was linked to the poor autonomy of our vessel. The mission of a patrol boat is to patrol. Its role is to go fast, but never for long. In general, our autonomy does not exceed seven days, but this mission requested 14 days without resupply. We had to hold as long as possible, because we did not know when we could unload the freight. It was key to save fuel. When the situation permitted it, we moved to a safe location by anchoring the ship in the bay of Nuku-Alofa, the host port.

What was your role there?

First of all, I had to make contact with the Tongan authorities, either directly or through regional partners. The emergency of the situation and the need to agree with each other made it indispensable to have many discussions with Australia and New Zealand. I was the eyes and ears of the FANC headquarters. The goal was to co-ordinate with the other nations for each of us to unload their freight.

Regarding my crew, my role was to preserve its motivation. Only one pier was open to unloading for all nations. We did everything sparingly. To unload La Glorieuse, it took us half a day, while a tanker required two days. We thus had to slip into this pier employment plan to get a timeslot in addition to validating the sanitary protocol. The mission was hence more complex than planned for the crew. One of the stakes was to keep the tempo of casting off in operational conditions. Being certain that it helped keep France’s rank in the region towards our Oceanian partners helped us greatly.

The SPDMM organised in Nouméa

The French Armed Forces Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, will host his counterparts for the 10^th South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting from 4^th to 7^th December in Nouméa. SPDMM gathers seven members (Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga) and three observing States (United States, Japan and United Kingdom). Its goal: developing a multilateral approach of the regional security stakes).