The French flagship vessel in the Pacific, the monitoring frigate “Prairial” is visiting Rarotonga for three days.

The patrol ship is crewed by 93 sailors, of which 12 are women, and 12 officers. Thirteen of the sailors are of Polynesian heritage.

Standing at 11 metres above sea level and 100 metres long, the vessel experienced its first turn around manoeuvre inside Avatiu Harbour with only 20 metres to spare.

“It was a great experience and we were really happy to see the dock teams so efficient, so serene,” said a spokesperson on the ship.

“For us, this ship is really a symbol of our attachment to the neighbouring countries especially the Cook islands in order to show our willingness to, even if it’s tough, to try and cooperate with the dock teams in order to make it happen, how much we’re ready to put in,” he added.

Commander Wallerand Faivre d’Arcier who was named captain of the ship in December 2024 said: “We are here to promote a healthy, neighbouring relationship between the Cook Islands and France, in order to contribute to a stable and safe environment, particularly in tackling drug trafficking and illegal fishing thanks to the Forum Fisheries Agency.”

Commander Wallerand Faivre d’Arcier of the French monitoring frigate “Prairial” visiting Rarotonga is pictured on the helipad of the vessel in Avatiu Harbour. MELINA ETCHES/25022730

He said the participation of Te Kukupa II in the MARARA 2024 humanitarian exercise in French Polynesia shows a strong cooperation between France and the Cook Islands and he anticipates that this will reoccur next year in 2026.

MARARA is a biennial exercise that improves interoperability between the U.S. military and France's Combined Joint Task Force Headquarters. The exercise helps partners prepare for future contingencies in the Indo-Pacific and also aims to improve cooperation in disaster relief operations.

The Prairial left Tahiti on February 20, for a month at sea.

Commander Faivre d’Arcier said their first mission is to protect their countrymen in the French Polynesia islands and waters including heavy storms and extreme weather.

Last week they conducted a humanitarian assistance and disaster exercise on the island of Tubuai, French Polynesia, to ensure that they can face these new concerns efficiently.

Following that their mission was to fight against illegal fishing under the Forum Fisheries Agency.

Their mission also is to create a comprehensive cooperation through formation offers in the French Pacific Academy with the aim to provide professional courses such as civil security, firefighting, cyber security and drones to all interested states to share and develop common procedures and increase capabilities for Pacific Islanders.

 “We hope to further increase our ties with the Cook Islands’ through this French Pacific Academy Initiative,” Faivre d’Arcier said.

The ship will be open to the public today Friday February 27, and tomorrow Saturday from 9am – 5pm.

The crew will be available to take groups of up to 10 people with a minimum age of 4 years (only if accompanied with parents).