French-made patrol vessel will boost Guyana’s security capacity

Last Updated on Thursday, 3 April 2025, 23:01 by Writer

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in French Guiana, Major General Marc Le Bouil on Thursday said a French-made offshore patrol vessel would boost the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) capacity.

“With oil exploration perspective for Guyana, what is very important is for all the sea, things are safe from dangers, in case of accidents, in case of security issues; it is very important to have such a boat, I think, to be able to tackle these kinds of issues,” he said during an interview at Fer de Lance joint exercise in French Guiana involving Guyanese, Surinamese, French and Brazilian soldiers.

The €39.5 million (US$42 million) vessel is being constructed by the French company, OCEA SA.

Mr Le Bouil said the French Navy assists in patrolling Guyana’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

GDF Colonel, Lloyd Souvenir, who attended the closing session of the Fer de Lance exercise, told reporters at the French Military Airbase hailed the exercise as invaluable to the local 34-member contingent and the defence force as whole. “It gives us an opportunity to operate within our neighbours, particularly in the Guiana Shield. It’s an opportunity to work with another Armed Force and work towards achieving, more or less, common or similar goals that we have,” he told reporters.

During the VIP Day, visitors were afforded the opportunity to see components of a simulation exercise involving migrants. They were transported by bus, screened and treated for injuries and other health problems. Several of them were taken for counseling and identity background checks.

Major General Le Bouil said Exercise Fer de Lance was managed by a Joint Command. He said the focus of participants was on interoperability of the forces from the Guianas and Brazil. He elaborated, saying that one of the areas of focus was collaborating to “bring them (migrants) home and ensure they are safe.”

The top military officer said another aspect dealt with ensuring the power company is safe. “On this infrastructures, we did some intense military actions to take control of these infrastructures,” he said.

The Fer de Lance exercise was important for the participating countries because they share the same issues such as illegal gold mining, drugs trafficking, illegal fishing, other transnational crimes and disaster relief missions.

The French Commander-in-Chief said major threats also include the global political situation. “We have a global uncertainty, in terms of international relations and geopolitics so we have to be ready to face any issue on this field,” he said.