France offers to help Vietnam build its own frigates as a French warship visits Hai Phong

The French Navy surveillance frigate Vendémiaire docked at Green Port in Hai Phong on 12 November for a goodwill visit that runs until 16 November, and France's ambassador used the occasion to say Paris wants to widen its defence ties with Vietnam to cover helicopters, satellites and help for Vietnam to build frigates in its own shipyards.

The ship carries 93 officers and sailors under Lieutenant Commander Jean-Christophe Dherbecourt. It is 93.5 metres long and 14.5 metres wide, with a full-load displacement of about 3,000 tonnes. The Vietnam People's Navy held a welcoming ceremony at the port, where the Vietnamese delegation was led by Senior Lieutenant Colonel Pham Duc Ninh, deputy chief of staff of Naval Region 1, and included representatives of Military Region 3, the border guard and Coast Guard Region 1. The French side included staff from the embassy and the French defence attaché office.

During the stay, the ship's commanding officer and senior officers are due to call on the leaders of Military Region 3, the Hai Phong People's Committee, Naval Region 1 and Coast Guard Region 1. A delegation from Vietnam's defence ministry was scheduled to tour the ship and hold technical talks on ship survivability, and the two sides were to settle arrangements for joint training with the Vietnam Coast Guard.

Dherbecourt told VietnamPlus that the crews would exchange experience on fire prevention and practise firefighting scenarios aboard the frigate. After the ship leaves Hai Phong, it is to hold a search and rescue drill with a Vietnam Coast Guard vessel, in which the two ships sail in parallel to a set area and launch rescue boats to simulate saving the crew of a sinking ship. He said the French side would like to add a helicopter to the exercise.

The commander said it was his first visit to Vietnam, although the Vendémiaire had called at Hai Phong twice before under other captains and had made several stops at Da Nang and Cam Ranh. The frigate is based in New Caledonia, and he said port calls in partner countries remain necessary for fuel, food and crew rest on missions far from home.

Ambassador Didier Le Bret told reporters that Hai Phong is a major port city and the headquarters of the Vietnam People's Navy, and that the visit reflected a shared commitment to freedom of navigation and international trade. He said defence cooperation between the two countries had made progress over the past two years as Vietnam diversifies its partners and sources of supply, and he presented France and Europe as reliable and stable partners. He also told VietnamPlus that such exchanges at sea build trust and show a joint commitment to settling disputes peacefully under international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Le Bret set out three areas for wider cooperation. Pointing to the helicopter on the frigate's flight deck, he said France wants to supply new-generation helicopters for civilian and military use as Vietnam replaces and upgrades its fleet. He said France is already working with Vietnam on a new Earth observation satellite project to help it monitor security threats and forecast natural disasters, and hopes to expand that work. He added that France is in talks about supporting Vietnam's defence industry, including building frigates for the Vietnamese navy at home.

The ideas were presented as proposals, and neither report mentioned a contract, a price or a timetable. Tuoi Tre noted that Vietnam's 2019 defence white paper sets out a policy of four noes, ruling out military alliances, siding with one country against another, foreign bases on its soil and the use or threat of force, and that Vietnam has hosted port visits by navies from the United States, Russia, India, Japan and China, among others. A French offer of shipbuilding help would fit that pattern of spreading defence ties across several partners.