The French naval ship Arago has paid a courtesy port visit to the Cook Islands after taking part in a regional monitoring mission.
French naval ship Arago. Photo: ShipSpotting.com
The operation was one of an annual series of four control and surveillance operations, aimed at curbing illegal fishing in the central and south Pacific.
According to an FFA statement, the operation encompassed the Exclusive Economic Zones and associated high seas of the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu and for the first time in this operation Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
The operation included the deployment of eight Pacific Class patrol boats from the participating nations, supported by five patrol aircraft from Australia, France and New Zealand as well as two French warships and a US Coast Guard cutter.