The list of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones in decreasing order goes as follows: United States, France, Australia, Russia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan and Chile.<\/p>\n
China is not included in these top ten countries, even though it has the fourth largest land mass. France\u2019s EEC in the Pacific adds up to 7.6 million square kilometres, two-thirds of the total French EEC.<\/p>\n
New Caledonia\u2019s EEC covers 1.4 million square kilometres, and France is in charge of surveying the fishing sector, renewable marine energies, mining reserves and one of the three greatest reef systems in the world according to Unesco. The French Navy fights essentially against illegal fishing, drug trafficking and pollution. They provide assistance to populations in the event of natural disasters and ensure that good relationships develop between the countries of the Pacific. They also accomplish reconnaissance missions to various places, sometimes as small as a few rocks, visiting them in Zodiacs to show that they belong to France, and conduct representation missions, welcoming dignitaries from other countries on board to show the importance of France.<\/p>\n
As far as New Caledonia is concerned, in the 80s what was known as \u201cthe events\u201d took place: bloody confrontations between Kanak independentists and the French administration in New Caledonia, present since 1853. During these confrontations, against a backdrop of violent social unrest where dialogue had become impossible, the Kanaks took policemen as hostages in a cave in Ouv\u00e9a. Jacques Chirac decided to send in French military forces. Nineteen Kanaks and two policemen were killed. One year later, Michel Rocard managed to have both parties sign the Matignon Accords, bringing back civil order. But the moderate independentist leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, who signed the Accords, was then assassinated by a extremist Kanak independentist. In 1998, Lionel Jospin signed the Noum\u00e9a Accords, which gave more autonomy to the archipelago and ratified the organization of a self-determination referendum that was to take place in 2018 at the latest.<\/p>\n
In 2019, the referendum has been voted by the Caledonians. France narrowly remains sovereign.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.switchonpaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Texte-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Emmelene Landon, Pacific Island<\/em>, oil and copper sulfate on canvas, 100 x 100 cm (2004 – 2019)<\/p><\/div>\n The Captain of the D\u2019Entrecasteaux,<\/em> who accepted my embarkation and with whom I was in contact before leaving Paris in order to organize the voyage, meets me at Tontouta Airport. It\u2019s late. I am the last passenger to go through the sliding doors into the arrival hall, without my suitcase, which was most likely lost in either Helsinki or Osaka. The Captain doesn\u2019t complain and neither do I. Before starting the car, he hands me a necklace of flowers and leaves. \u201cTradition,\u201d he tells me. We drive towards Noum\u00e9a, forty or so kilometres away in the tropical night. He explains what the D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em> and its crew will be doing before setting off at sea, as well as the visits to the Naval Base he organized for me. I listen as if I had often been on board a French Navy ship, when we both know it\u2019s the first time. I am quite unfamiliar with military life.<\/p>\n He drops me off at the Circle Club of the Armed Forces, New Caledonia, where I will be staying before my embarkation. Midnight. The Circle Club is located at the end of Artillery Point, a dead end for those who do not work for French Defence. The room is efficiently bare, old style. Turn of the century documentaries of old French colonies, namely in Africa, flicker across the screen of a small television. I can\u2019t figure out how to turn it off, so I pull the plug out from the socket.<\/p>\n In the morning, I pinned my Naval writer\u2019s \u201cinsignia\u201d onto my shirt, after clipping it onto my jacket, but it\u2019s much too hot to wear a jacket. Walking along the coast towards the town centre to buy myself two or three light pieces of clothing \u2013 the Captain and I are expected for lunch at the General\u2019s \u2013 I pass by an official building covered with posters of the young faces of thirty-year old Caledonians: \u201cThirty years after the events, the Southern Province celebrates its thirtieth anniversary.\u201d \u201cWe, children of the Accords, will pursue the path for the upcoming generations.\u201d \u201cKnowing our history liberates us and teaches us how to live with others.\u201d \u201cBy enabling everyone to be integrated through the work force, we can all construct our own future.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s our turn to participate in the construction of our country while respecting everyone.\u201d \u201cWhat is important, is knowing how we will pursue life together.\u201d \u201cTolerance towards difference is the starting point for our common history.\u201d \u201cI love my island and I\u2019ll do everything to participate in its peaceful development.\u201d \u201cWe are all metis, it\u2019s our strength.\u201d \u201cDialogue brings respect and respect brings dialogue, both are inseparable.\u201d<\/p>\n I have the impression that Noum\u00e9a\u2019s town centre has shifted to another place since I stopped over here in 2001, during a round the world trip on a container ship. All these hazy memories are linked to the brevity of stop-overs, to their precarity, because one remains in a bond with the ship, almost like a dream that gradually fades away when the ship eventually leaves shore.<\/p>\n Lunch with the General of the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia and his wife, the Captain (Navy), Commander of the Joint Task Force Maritime component in New Caledonia and his British wife who works in the Australian Consulate, as well as the Captain of the D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em>. The villa at the Artillery Point, near the Circle Club, was built at the very beginning of France\u2019s presence on the territory, when the French convicts were sent there, and looks over the Moselle Bay.<\/p>\n The men are dressed in white uniforms, even the General, and the women in \u201clight clothing\u201d as was specified on the invitation. The General is a lover of the land. His vision of the sea is from the land, whereas, for a sailor, land is seen from the sea. The submarine commander mentions that there are two types of sailors: those who say they are never seasick and those who tell the truth. I bring up Nicholas Montserrat\u2019s novel, The Cruel Sea.<\/em> \u201cExcellent remedy against seasickness,\u201d he replies. \u201cEverything appears to be dull in comparison.\u201d<\/p>\n The General mentions French nuclear testing in the Pacific fifteen years ago and the resulting difficult relationships between France and Australia and New Zealand. We talk about France\u2019s importance in the Pacific, how the Chinese buy up islands\u2019 debt, such as the Salomon Islands, in order to be present in the Pacific, and the following dependence of these islands on China. And we talk about sea cucumbers, or holothuries, that Vietnamese blue boats fish for illegally and sell for fortune in China.<\/p>\n The Submarine Commander remarks that Australians seem to have always been wary of the Chinese.<\/p>\n We discuss the younger generations and their constant need to be connected, which is a problem for the profession and defence secrets. I suggest that being disconnected could valorise connexion, and be seen as an innovating, adventurous aspect of their missions, similar to how life at sea enhances life on shore. The Captain of the D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em> mentions how difficult it was to collect all the crews\u2019 cell phones during a delicate operation.<\/p>\n Madame asks me how I intend to go about writing a book. I mention how new this experience is for me, and how I would like to capture the ambiance and the challenges. Truly speaking, I have no idea, only the ambition of writing a series of five novels, a novel for each ocean, starting with the Pacific.<\/p>\n At the Circle Club, a concert of birds wakes me at dawn. From the other side of the world, I read that the poet Emmanuel Hocquard has died. \u201cWhen speaking and writing, reading and translating, we seek an outlet. Writing is that release.\u201d<\/p>\n Breakfast at the Circle Club. On television, Florence Parly, the French Minister of Defence declares: \u201cIf Jihadists die in combat, so much the better.\u201d What can the government do about Jihadists? \u201cStrip them of their French nationality,\u201d declares Christophe Castaner. Behind me, four soldiers, two women and two men. An advertisement for ambitious bachelors follows the French politicians\u2019 declarations.<\/p>\n The BSAOM D’Entrecasteaux.<\/em> \u00a9 Mer et Marine \u2013 Vincent Groizeleau<\/p><\/div>\n The Captain comes to collect me from the Circle Club and we drive to the D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em> where all the crew is on board to review safety instructions. We line up on the rear deck, the officers on one side and the crew on the other, \u201cGarde \u00e0 vous ! Repos<\/em>.\u201d The Captain introduces me to the others and invites them to mix with me, like a new foreign child in school. And we are indeed the same size as a class, with twenty-seven pupils. The average age is around 30.<\/p>\n The D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em> is a wide, tall ship that looks more like a tugboat than a warship. 64 metres long, 14 metres wide, with a draft of 4.20 metres. Like a warship, it is painted grey. In the officers\u2019 mess, it looks white in one of its portraits, like a luxury yacht, however the Captain doesn\u2019t agree with this observation.<\/p>\n A few weeks before I embarked, the Marine changed the names of these ships from \u201cla Force d\u2019Action Navale de B\u00e2timent Multi-Missions (B2M)\u201d to \u201cB\u00e2timent de Soutien et d\u2019Assistance d\u2019Outre-Mer (BSAOM).\u201d The D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em> has two crews, team A and team B, composed of 23 members. 3 officers: the Captain, the chief mate and the OPS. 17 petty officers and three quarter-masters and deckhands. The teams take turns every four months. Three VOA, Volontary Officer Candidates, are also on board, young polytechnicians who serve in the forces for a year. There are four women: second boatswain in charge of communication, the chief of the health department, the officer candidate and the naval writer.<\/p>\n The D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em> was built in Concarneau and sailed to Noum\u00e9a in 2016 with the A team, the team I\u2019ll be sailing with. They have been living with their families in New Caledonia for the past three years, and upon their return will have to move back to either Toulon, Brest, Lorient or Paris in France. Many have not yet been informed of their future working base.<\/p>\n Rear deck, starboard side: we are grouped by lifeboats and informed about what should be done in case of fire, water ingress, leaking gas, collision or attack. We all depend on each other: what happens if someone loses his cool, will we have time to pack a bag with warm clothing, water, food, sun cream, sunglasses, A3P mask, identity papers, knife, cell phone, life jacket, pyrotechnics\u2026 The bosun, from Brittany, tells us that if we are linked together in the sea, we would be more visible. All this reminds me of certain moments in The Cruel Sea<\/em> when the vessel is torpedoed. In the lifeboats, some drift off towards death whereas others cling onto life and tell their dying companions stories to keep them alive. The Captain gives the order to leave the ship, the horn is blown for 10 seconds. Once again, the instructions are emphasized: dress warmly, drink water before evacuating the ship, go to the evacuation zone, use the nets and ladders. Jump at the head of the lifeboat\u2019s order, and only inflate the life jacket once you\u2019ve jumped.<\/p>\n Discussion with a Navy and Air Force commander, on board for lunch:<\/p>\n – The Caldoches (French residents in New Caledonia) don\u2019t want to leave. New Caledonia is their home. Before they created farms, there was nothing here. A Caledonian who doesn\u2019t complain isn\u2019t\u2026 French!<\/p>\n Cocktail \/ dinner at the Submarine commander and wife\u2019s house. The view from Chaleix Point is beautiful from both sides: over both the Baie des Citrons and the Baie de l\u2019Orphelinat (named after the orphans sent to New Caledonia by the Empress Eug\u00e9nie as wives for the first settlers).<\/p>\n Two young Chinese men, Feng X. and Zhen L., work for the company that will be dismantling the Kea Trader<\/em>, a small-sized container ship that split in two and sank after running aground onto a reef. We talk about how China has changed since 1988, when I spent six months there with Sigol\u00e8ne Pr\u00e9bois. They weren\u2019t even born. Another China, without cars. We seem to understand each other well, or they\u2019re good pretenders. The spirit of China is millenary, thanks to our language, says Feng, and thanks to our ancient tablets, says Zhen. Numbers aren\u2019t even numbers in China, James B., a British intermediary, explains.<\/p>\n Six Naval Fusiliers and three members of the French army have just joined the crew of the D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em> to take part in exercises with three other ships: the Vendemiaire<\/em>, the Glorieuse<\/em> and the La Moqueuse. <\/em>The idea is to train for the best way to deal with incidents, while ensuring that the crew of the D’Entrecasteaux,<\/em> ashore for four months, get their hand in once more. This lasts five days. Then we’ll patrol on the high seas, at 11 knots, not in a straight line like\u00a0a container ship, but according to our needs. Towards Brisbane.<\/p>\n I’m waiting for an organized visit of the Vendemiaire,<\/em> due at 10AM, and afterwards, lunch on board with the frigate\u2019s Captain and officers along with the Captain of the D’Entrecasteaux<\/em>. The other ship that will be exercising with us, the Glorieuse<\/em>, is a P400 that I visited two days ago. The crew is uniquely masculine, because there are no separate toilet facilities for women. This old ship, relatively speaking, that dates from the eighties, evokes Le Crabe Tambour, <\/em>both the novel and the movie written and directed by Pierre Schoendoerffer. The crew, very young, is particularly attached to the Glorieuse<\/em>, but this ship even so is quite\u00a0messy, at least during her stopover at the wharf. The young sailors are one on top of the other, their strong bodies bustling over the deck of the rather cramped ship. In their cabins, clothes are flung here and there, and a large pirate flag is pinned on the wall of the mess room.<\/p>\n More than inhabiting this ship, they serve it, repair it, paint it, and clean it. Another characteristic: Patrimony. A poster of a\u00a0car from the eighties\u00a0remains on the wall of the mess room. Tradition dictates: the decoration stays as it is.<\/p>\n One feels the ship’s age. The Vendemiaire<\/em> represents the nineties. Ninety aboard. No portholes on this frigate, like a floating submarine. Her bridge resembles a cupboard compared with that of the D’Entrecasteaux<\/em>, which is immense, open to 360\u00b0. However, the sailors from the Vendemiaire<\/em> call the D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em> a \u201cveau\u201d or a \u201ccalf,\u201d because the BSAOM is deprived of the physical attributes of the Vendemiaire<\/em>, namely the 100 mm CADAT turret with a Najir fire control system, two Exocet MM38 missiles and two 20 mm model F guns.<\/p>\nNoum\u00e9a, late January 2019<\/h2>\n
<\/a>The D\u2019Entrecasteaux<\/em><\/h2>\n
\n– Yes, they\u2019ve been here for generations. But who says they should leave?
\n– If we weren\u2019t here, it would be difficult for them.<\/p>\n\u201cLaps in the pool\u201d<\/h2>\n