Does this say something about the current state of the French Navy that it could not spare a frigate for this phase of the operation, so the government has to rely on a Marine Nationale (Coast Guard) patrol boat that apparently has insufficient range to reach the site without refueling in Brazil?
It's the position of the boat that counts.The nearest one was "la Capricieuse", based in Cayenne;
Those escort / patrol boats were designed for missions in the French EEZ (Economic exclusion zone) off the coasts of the overseas territories (DOM-TOM)
I do not know the reason for the stop over at a Brazilian port but that class has a range of some 5000 Nm, more than enough to join the site to Cayenne.
No, we ain't broke yet...
