The first of two French-made warships sold to Egypt after France canceled their sale to Russia has arrived off the coast of Alexandria.
Egyptian television channels on June 23 broadcast live footage as the Mistral assault ship approached the main port on Egypt’s northern coast.
The ship, named Gamal Abdel Nasser, left the shipyard of Saint-Nazaire on France's Atlantic coast on June 12.
Its sister ship, which is to be named after assassinated Egyptian leader Anwar al-Sadat, is expected to arrive in Alexandria in September.
The two ships were originally intended for sale to Russia.
But France canceled the 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) deal with the Kremlin in response to Russia's illegal occupation and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
Egypt bought the two Mistrals, which Russia had named Vladivostok and Sevastopol, at a reduced price of about 950 million euros ($1.1 billion), with financial help from Saudi Arabia.
