Courtesy exercises on the edge of the Arctic pack ice | Polarjournal
Escort of the French Navy’s BSAM Rhône. Image: Guillaume Robin / Studio Ponant / French Navy

The French, Danish and Icelandic navies performed search and rescue maneuvers at sea with the most powerful icebreaker in the NATO zone, a tourist liner flying the flag of the French islands of Wallis and Futuna.

China has just completed the construction of its third research icebreaker Ji Di. Russia’s first combat icebreaker, Ivan Papanin, is currently being tested in open waters near the Admiralty shipyards in St. Petersburg. As for the NATO Arctic Zone, “grey” ice-capable patrol vessels exist, but national escort and supply vessels are not up to the level of those of the Russian Federation. “NATO is far from having the same ice capabilities as the Russians,” naval engineer Rasmus Nygaard told Polar Journal AG last April. Thus, the cruise vessel Le Commandant Charcot remains the most efficient icebreaker in the North Atlantic zone. Flying the French flag, its presence in the Arctic during the summer period enabled the implementation of several successive exercises during the second half of June, coordinated between the liner and a number of naval vessels from various NATO countries. “Not for military purposes,” explained Commander Willy a few days ago at the Préfecture Maritime. “The cruise ship has commercial objectives, distinct from those of the Navy.” CF Willy is responsible for planning Atlantic operations, which they manage from the basement of the Château de Brest.

Seen from the icebreaker’s bridge, the 70-metre BSAM Rhône is afloat between patches of ice. Both ships use a helicopter. Image: French Navy

This command post coordinates the French Navy’s fleet of ships, submarines and surveillance aircraft. “We have anti-pollution, security and piracy surveillance missions,” confirms the officer. The waters beyond the Arctic Circle are also of strategic importance. “We’ve been there for a long time to monitor, to know where the Russian submarines are and to be able to send our own,” he explains during the interview. In June, the exercises consisted of search and rescue training at sea. This area is a long way from shipping lanes. “So we need to be able to count on the offshore resources of different countries,” he adds.

The HDMS Triton (112 meters) has a number of reinforcements in its hull to provide ice-going capabilities. Image: French Navy

The Danish frigate HDMS Triton and Le Commandant Charcot met near Ittoqqortoormiit around June 14th. To simulate a fire on board and the evacuation of an injured person by helicopter, a code Bravo was triggered. “The helicopter’s blast was so powerful that civilians were lying on the pack ice,” says a passenger who took part in the cruise. Once the mission was accomplished, the icebreaker escorted the frigate before entering a polynya, but was unable to reach Ittoqqortoormiit as its path was blocked by 12 m thick pack ice. As a result, they got caught in the ice. “It refreezes quickly”, points out the officer. Le Commandant Charcot then pulled HDMS Triton out of the grip of the icy waters by circling her. “I think the crew of HDMS Triton was glad to have people to practice with,” notes CF Willy.

This is an exercise. Image: Guillaume Robin / Studio Ponant / French Navy

The French Navy surveillance vessel BSAM Rhône, which arrived later, then practiced a number of maneuvers with Le Commandant Charcot. These included escort, towing, fire and man overboard. “The Tugallik 24 exercise enabled us to strengthen our ties with Le Commandant Charcot, as our ice pilots and theirs are trained by the École Nationale Supérieure Maritime in Marseille,” explains CF Willy. During the maneuver, naval officers came aboard the liner to observe Commandant Marchesseau’s piloting.

For Ponant, taking part in these exercises is perhaps a way of sending out a message. It demonstrates its capabilities in terms of assistance, intervention in polar environments and cooperation between flags. Operations ended with the Icelandic coastguard vessel Thor(Þór). Thereby, Le Commandant Charcot also let itself be towed in a courteous manner.

Camille Lin, Polar Journal AG

Captain Patrick Marchesseau’s words:

“We actually carried out an ice extraction manoeuvre for the first time in order to free another blocked vessel. It’s a very tricky maneuver, because you have to get close enough to the ship to open up a channel, without compressing it or squeezing it further by pushing chunks of ice towards it as you pass, or even colliding with the vessel. You need to have perfect control over the power and manoeuvrability of your vessel. For this operation, we used 50% of the ship’s maximum power.”

“Weather conditions were rather mild with little wind, if not the occasional fog… which made convoy navigation in the ice more tricky, considering that the distance between the two ships was reduced to around 500 meters.”

“When operating an expedition vessel in a polar environment, we always have to keep in mind which SAR (Search And Rescue, e.n) resources we should call on in the event of a problem. In this case, this interaction with the Danish navy has enabled us to gain a better understanding of the ice capacity of their vessel, with the projection of a helicopter, an indispensable vector during a SAR operation that greatly increases their radius of action.”

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