Arms control off Libya: the Jacoubet relays the Chief Master L'Her

(B2) The French high seas patrol vessel “ Jacoubet Ship Sign » (F-794) arrived in the EUNAVFOR Med / Sophia operation to combat trafficking in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Libya (human beings, weapons). He relays his alter ego “ Chief Petty Officer L'Her » (F-792) engaged since September 12 (1). This French presence at the maritime level is new. Until now the French contribution to the operation was rather limited. It consisted more of human resources (officers at HQ in Rome), intelligence (ISR) and an aircraft (Falcon 50 type) made available a few days per month (often with dual missions, under national or European aegis) ( 2).
The change in focus of the operation decided in June by the 28 to allow the European operation to carry out checks on ships off the coast of Libya, within the framework of the arms embargo decreed by the UN in 2011 and the fight against Daesh (3), changed the situation. France is now contributing with maritime resources to this operation as part of what is called the control of arms flows to Daesh (CFAD). The port of Marseille was even offered (4) to serve as a diversion port in the event of flagrante delicto, to divert the ship concerned, the crew and the weapons seized, with an indirect consequence: French justice could be seized of such facts and the public prosecutor initiates proceedings. The United Kingdom also offered one more ship to carry out this task (5). Here we find the Franco-British couple, in action in Libya in 2011, who were one of the main driving forces behind this new task for EUNAVFOR Med.
This new phase passes by a gradual increase in power – we explain to the French Navy. " Arms control in particular requires a significant amount of intelligence gathering. "To monitor all the ships in the Mediterranean would, in fact, be both impossible in terms of resources and quite useless. It is necessary to operate wisely on 'suspect' ships. What is called at the technical level " characterize flows ". Notice Chief Petty Officer L'Her has already carried out two inspection operations on ships suspected of engaging in such trafficking. However, the flag surveys carried out did not allow " for the moment, to detect irregularities which would have authorized a complete search of the buildings ". The information collected " have been transmitted to the partners and agencies concerned by the control over the flow of arms to Daesh in Libya ».
Even if the few searches carried out by French and British ships have not today made it possible to detect any flagrante delicto, this presence - and the communication surrounding it - has a certain deterrent effect. Traffickers, knowing they are being monitored, could modify their modus operandi. Which, in a certain way, contributes to the objective of disrupting traffic.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
NB: the Jacoubet had been sent to the Egypt air crash: Egyptian, French and Greek forces deployed in the area and also participated in the European operation to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean (read: In the Gulf, pirates are having a blast).
(1) Both are ships of the Estienne d'Orves class, type A69
(2) Since June 2015, maritime reconnaissance aircraft have carried out around twenty missions, thus accumulating more than 120 hours monitoring maritime traffic in the area of action of Operation Sofia.
(3) United Nations Security Council Resolution 2292.
(4) Paris has had its ears pulled a bit to offer this port. But the Italians, who already handle all the processing of asylum seekers and the prosecution of human traffickers, refused to contribute further to an action requested mainly by the French and the British.
(5) It can be noted that London, in "departure" mode on Brexit, has reinforced its action under the European flag, where a few years ago it refused to join the European Union.