A French Navy warship, L’ADROIT, on Thursday docked at berth 11 of the Tema Port as part of the French Navy’s missions of maritime surveillance in the Gulf of Guinea.

The vessel has an overall length of 87.5m with two diesel engines and a maximum speed of 21 knots.

The offshore patrol vessel, which is under the command of Commander Loïc Guyot, has a crew of six officers, 22 petty officers, four boatmen and sailors.

It will be on the shores of Ghana for four days after which it will depart to Lagos, Nigeria on September 24.

Commander Guyot told the media onboard the ship that the purpose of the visit was to reinforce the existing ties between the French and the Ghanaian naval forces.

He added that the crew would also present the ship to the Ghanaian navy which would be followed by a demonstration at sea for the personnel to have a feel of how the vessel operates.

He said the ship provided a series of innovative capabilities designed specifically for maritime security and safety missions.

The Commander noted that it would help combat illegal activities such as piracy, drug trafficking, terrorism and illegal fishing among others.

Commander Guyot said on October 21, 2011 L’ADROIT, which was under the ownership of DCNS (the company that funded and built the ship), was officially made available to the French Navy under his command to evaluate it and its systems on operational mission.

He stated that for the ship to be labeled sea-proven, the vessel would fulfill a specific range of missions in the field of maritime surveillance for the next three years.