Thursday 27 November 2014 – The French Navy ship, FNS VENDEMIARIE ended her goodwill visit to Brunei Darussalam today and continued their journey from Negara Brunei Darussalam (NBD) on a high note. FNS VENDEMIARIE slipped off from Muara Commercial Wharf this morning and proceeded to conduct a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with KDB DARULEHSAN.Naval evolutions conducted between the two navies include Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO), which concluded with an insertion of both ships’ boarding teams into FNS VENDEMIARIE and KDB DARULEHSAN. This evolution provided the opportunity for both navies to interchange interrogation and boarding procedures, as well as an outlet for improvement in the conduct of boarding operations at sea. Another evolution conducted was Flaghoist, which ran concurrently with the boarding evolutions. On completion of PASSEX, FNS VENDEMIARIE was detached and continued towards her next port of call, bringing an end to her goodwill visit to NBD.
This exercise is a tradition practiced by navies around the world, and aims to further strengthen the already existing relationships and cooperation between the French Navy and the Royal Brunei Navy, as well as to enhance interoperability between the two navies. Indirectly, this has helped promote mutual understanding and has bolstered the existing long-standing relationship among the officers and men of both navies. FNS VENDEMIARIE now continues on and will make their next port of call at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
