Hand built museum quality model of La Nivose a French patrol frigate currently still in use by the French Navy surveying Africa. This model is mint & complete with its hanbuilt Lucite display base and a clear dust cover. In the case it. Measures 14″ long by 6″ high by 6.5 wide. The model of the boat itself measures 9″ long by 1.5″ wide by 3.5 high. This model comes from the collection of James Bloom a published military nautical historian. See my other auctions for similar items. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Here is some history about this interesting boat.. On 30 September 2014, Nivôse was steaming toward Mauritius in the Indian Ocean when she was severely damaged by fire which broke out in her engine room and spread to adjacent areas. The crew suffered no injuries, but the damage to the vessel was extensive. Once the fire was extinguished the following morning, the vessel had lost propulsion power, electricity, water supply and air conditioning. Nivôse had to be towed back to the naval base in Pointe De La Galets, La Reunion. Nivôse paid a week long courtesy call to Cape Town last week during its first operational deployment since she was repaired in Mauritius. Im very proud of my crew because we are out of a very long refit, de Saint-Quentin told defenceWeb, A regular refit is three or four months. This ships company hasnt operated for a year. We retrained very, very hard, our learning curve has been very steep and weve reached an excellent operational level. Two thirds of the crew were the same as those that fought the fire throughout the night as one third of the crews are rotated every year. Nivôse experienced no major faults during the first half of her two month patrol of the French Southern and Antarctic Territories. De Saint-Quentin explained that one of the priorities the 93.5 meter long, 2,950 ton frigate with 108 crew was the protection of French exclusive economic zones (EEZ). The regular patrols are an important deterrent to illegal fishing by IUU (Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported) boats. The second mission is surveillance of the maritime area and acquiring general knowledge of the area. This includes navigating to the Polar Regions, encountering strong winds and high seas. France acknowledges the importance of patrolling its large EEZs and patrol ships are based around the world where France has an interest. Recognising that not only are regular patrols important, coverage of the entire EEZ is critical as well. If we patrol on the one side (of the EEZ), the IUU just go to the other side, de Saint-Quentin explained. Thus, the French have a treaty with Australia whereby each country is able to patrol the others EEZ. Its double the presence. France is in the process of signing a similar treaty with South Africa, who has difficulty executing regular patrols into the furthest area of its EEZ. The item “Museum Quality Model of the La Nivose French Surveillance Frigate” is in sale since Wednesday, January 30, 2019. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Transportation\Boats & Ships\Military\Models”. The seller is “acarpel” and is located in Frederick, Maryland. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, Ukraine, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Uruguay.