This ceremony began with the first raising of the colors, a visible sign of its passage under the status of combat ship. ALFAN Brest then had Lieutenant-Commander François Thisse recognized as the first commander of the Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai and entrusted him with the unit’s pennant. This is the birth certificate of the armament crew, now officially recognized as the first crew of the Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai.
Until the summer of 2023, Socarenam’s manufacturers will conduct commissioning tests for the facilities, under the state control of the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), with the assistance of the Centre of Expertise for Naval Programmes (CEPN) and the Standing Committee on Programmes and Tests (CPPE), in order to verify the conformity of the building’s performance with the needs expressed. The first sea trials will be conducted in early summer.
Fully integrated into state control and testing, the armament crew thus progresses in the knowledge of the vessel and prepares for its management.
Replacing the 400-ton patrol boats (P400), the overseas patrol boats are bound for New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Reunion. These new patrol vessels have increased autonomy and elongation to cover the vast EEZs of our overseas territories. Eventually, six overseas patrol boats will reinforce maritime resources in the Indian and Pacific Oceans to ensure sovereignty missions: surveillance of maritime approaches, fisheries police, fight against drug trafficking, rescue missions… The Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai, second in the series, will be based in Papeete, which it will join at the end of 2023.
The name of this overseas patrol boat pays tribute to Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai, companion of the Liberation, originally from French Polynesia. Born in 1875 in Punaauia on the island of Tahiti, he is the descendant of the customary chiefs of the district of Punaauia. In 1940, he took a very active part in the rallying of the French Establishments of Oceania to the Free France. An ardent patriot and brilliant orator, he brought to the Free France the support of his authority over the districts of the island throughout the war, allowing in particular the enlistment of many Tahitian volunteers in the Free French Forces. He died in 1952, decorated with the Legion of Honor and the Cross of Liberation.
The symbolic motif of the ship refers to the character of Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai and its history. Thus are represented the arms of French Polynesia, the puzzle and the Polynesian spear recalling the status of patriarch of Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai, and the mythological figure of the seahorse which evokes the characteristics of the patroller.