At the request of Rear Admiral Éric Aymard, Senior Commander of the Armed Forces in the West Indies (FAA), the Dixmude set sail on June 21 from Fort-de-France with the Surveillance Frigate (FS) Germinal, the Patrouilleur Antilles-Guyane (PAG) La Combattante and the Overseas Support and Assistance Building (BSAOM) Dumont D’Urville.
The four ships joined the open sea, south of the island of Martinique in order to preserve their operational capabilities and be ready to intervene following the passage of storm Bret in the area.
For two days, the four buildings, integrated into the Joan of Arc Task Group, ensured precise monitoring of the meteorological situation thanks to the work of meteorologists-oceanographers. They also put this navigation to good use by training each other into a set up task group.
During this period, the Dixmude was diverted on 23 June by the Regional Operational Centre for Surveillance and Rescue (CROSS) Antilles-Guyane to assist in an operation to assist and rescue 4 shipwrecked people east of the island of Saint Lucia, in weather conditions severely deteriorated due to the storm. The castaways were taken care of by the Dragon helicopter of the Civil Security and the Panther helicopter of the FAA proceeded to the relocation of the wreckage which constituted a danger to the users of the sea. The mobilization of the resources of the armed forces and their availability demonstrate the adaptability of the military in general, and sailors in particular, to operate on short notice, in degraded conditions, in order to protect the population against the dangerousness of everyday life.
The Jeanne d’Arc 2023 mission is a long-term operational deployment around the world, thanks to which the France ensures its presence in several areas of major strategic interest, while offering a concrete, realistic and quality training framework to the cadet officers on board.