ON the high seas, the Martinique-based French Frigate Ventose has acquired a reputation for spotting and intercepting sailing and go fast boats involved in narco trafficking. It is also known for its involvement in humanitarian efforts such as natural disasters and search and rescue missions.

But last week when the ship docked in Jamaica, the Ventose crew members soon found that, on shore, they are no match for the Jamaican coastguards.

The Ventose’s football team played a friendly match against the Jamaican coastguards Friday, which they lost 5-1 to the home team.

The vessel arrived in the island Thursday for a four-day visit, and is docked at the Rockfort Pier in Kingston.

According to the ship’s captain, Jean-Frederic Plobner, one of the frigate’s principal missions was to locate and intercept sailing and go fast boats suspected of having drugs on board.

However, he said the Jamaican visit was of a different nature.

“We’re here because the French embassy would like to strengthen relations between France and Jamaica,” Plobner explained.

On Friday, Plobner was kept busy taking students and members of the media on tours of the vessel, showing off the main deck, helicopter hangar, flight deck and engine room.

The ship, which has a crew of 87, keeps an eye on boats from Venezuela and Colombia engaged in narco smuggling to Europe, according to Plobner.

The ship, he said, also monitors boats trafficking cocaine from the islands north of the Caribbean to North America.

The Ventose, which seized three tons of cocaine in 2002, from two ships and two boats from Venezuela, seized only a half-ton of cocaine so far this year,” Plobner told the Observer.

“It is very difficult to get intelligence and information about ships leaving these countries. Sometimes we’re lucky, other times not so lucky,” he explained.

He said further that special operations against go fast boats utilised the services of specially-trained teams from France trained in counter terrorism. However, he added that when the teams are not on board, specially trained members of the Ventose, crew are still able to board suspected ships.

Based in Martinique, the Ventose, which was built in 1993, also plays a humanitarian role through search and rescue missions at sea, and offers assistance to civilian populations in times of natural disasters.

As part of the efforts to strengthen relationships between Jamaica and France, the French government sponsored a five-day drug seminar in Montego Bay in April, for 25 policemen and customs officers. The seminar was designed to help local cops improve detection of synthetic drugs at the island’s ports.

At least two times each year, there are exchanges of army platoons between the Jamaican and French armies.

The vessel left the island yesterday.