The first of two French-made warships sold to Egypt after France cancelled their sale to Russia arrived off the coast of Alexandria on Thursday, local media reported. Two local television channels broadcast live footage of the Mistral assault ship as it approached the main port on the northern coast of Egypt. An audience of senior officers and civilian officials watched from red carpets lining the docks.
The ship, named "Gamal Abdel Nasser", after Egypt's charismatic post-independence president, left the shipyard of Saint-Nazaire on France's Atlantic coast on June 12. Its sister ship, which will be named after Nasser's successor Anwar al-Sadat, is expected to arrive in September.
The two ships were originally intended for sale to Russia but France cancelled the 1.2 billion euro ($1.4 billion) deal over Russia's actions in Ukraine. Egypt bought the two Mistrals, which Russia had named "Vladivostok" and "Sevastopol", at a reduced price of around 950 million euros ($1.1 billion), with financial help from Saudi Arabia. The delivery is part of a 5.2 billion euro ($5.6 billion) deal Cairo signed with Paris in February 2015 to purchase 24 Rafale multi-role combat jets, a frigate and missiles.