INTERVIEW
A stopover in Brest at the heart of suspicion. The 1,900 sailors of the French nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, and the frigate that accompanied him, disembarked in Toulon Sunday after around fifty soldiers tested positive for Coronavirus. The origin of the contamination could be a stopover made from March 13 to 16 in the port of Brest. If on that date confinement had not yet been declared, the family day had been canceled by the captain. Sailors were only allowed to descend ashore under certain conditions.
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"It's serious"
"We must remember the chronology, the stopover was between March 13 and 16, containment was declared in France on the 17th, so it happened just before," said General Dominique Trinquand, former head of the mission. French military to the UN, on Europe 1.
"The captain of the ship had taken measures - the families were prohibited from coming on board - but authorized, within certain limits, the descent to the quay then the meeting between the families, with the precautionary measures applied at the time. 'have not been applied, it is serious ", he judges. "Especially since we are not talking about normal citizens. We are talking about sailors, soldiers, who know the importance of their mission," he said.
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According to the first accounts, in particular of the companion of one of the sailors questioned this morning on Europe 1, certain soldiers and their families shared a meal in the same restaurants in Brest, mixing with sailors of other nationalities.
"Sanctions will be taken"
"Today we see the consequences, with the arrival and the huge measures taken in Toulon, because of disobedience," laments Dominique Trinquand. The entire aircraft carrier will be disinfected.
Navy spokesman and captain Eric Lavault said Monday that if the facts were true, "then the sailors were in contradiction and in contravention of the orders given by the commander." "It is of course necessary to identify those who have contravened the orders and from that moment disciplinary sanctions will be taken by the authority, which is the commander of the ship," said General Trinquand. "And perhaps think further about the question of this stopover."
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"This quarantine is not harmful for the moment, but ..."
"Should the company have taken measures before those announced by the State? This can be thought about. On the other hand for a strategic tool like an aircraft carrier it is a reflection that must be further, as soon as We know that there is a risk for the continuation of the mission, "wonders Dominique Trinquand. The aircraft carrier was at the end of the mission, so this quarantine is not prejudicial, for the moment on the operational level. "But in terms of principles ...", says the former general.
"There are two levels: seafarers who have not respected the minimum rules which had been put in place by the captain of the ship, must be penalized and have a more global reflection on how the command reacts in anticipation, taking into account the strategic position of a tool "like the Charles-de-Gaulle ship. The crews of the nuclear submarines are in quarantine without contact with their families fifteen days before the dive, recalls Dominique Trinquand.