The French Navy aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle has arrived in Danish waters, but will call off a planned visit to the port of Aarhus to prevent a possible spread of the Coronavirus.
In addition to the port call, several related activities are being canceled, the Danish defense ministry has disclosed.
The personnel on board the ships will not be granted land leave, and no visits will be made to the ships from the Danish side.
FS Charles de Gaulle was expected to spend several days in Aarhus and subsequently depart with Danish Navy frigate HDMS Niels Juel as a new member of its carrier group. While the port visit is cancelled, the frigate is still on schedule to deploy with the French Navy.
This is the second time that the Iver Huidfeldt-class frigate is deploying with the French aircraft carrier. The last time was in 2019, when the two ships operated together in the Mediterranean.
The nuclear-powered FS Charles de Gaulle and ships and submarines from its strike group arrived in the North Sea between March 16 and 17, after two months of operations in the Mediterranean. The carrier’s deployment is called Foch.
