France has delivered a second Mistral helicopter carrier to Egypt as part of a $1bn deal signed last year.
The Egyptian delegation took control of the vessel at a ceremony at the Atlantic coast port of Saint-Nazaire.
Egypt’s navy has raised the country’s flag on Friday on board the second helicopter carrier it purchased from France last year, state-owned MENA agency reported.
The Mistral-class ship was received by Egypt’s Navy Commander-in-Chief Vice Admiral Osama Rabie during an inauguration ceremony at Saint-Nazaire harbor in western France.
The Mistral carrier is the second one received by Egypt from France after inaugurating the first one – named after late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser – in June in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, north of Egypt, coming from the French city of Toulouse.

Egyptian sailors attend the flag ceremony for Egyptian BPC Anwar El-Sadat in Saint-Nazaire, western France, September 16, 2016.

The two ships were originally built for sale to Russia, but the situation in Crimea led to the deal being quashed as Europe imposed sanctions on Moscow.
The French state backed shipbuilder DCNS had to strip out all the vessel’s information systems and instructions written in Cyrillic and replace them with English and Arabic text.
The “Anwar El-Sadat”, formally the Vladivostok, will set sail from Saint-Nazaire early next week for joint exercises with the French navy before setting off for Alexandria.
The Mistral is capable of carrying vessels and tanks and will serve as a command centre for the Egyptian fleet.

Source: Al Arabiya, Euro News, 16 Sep. 2016