Will The French Authorities Be Able To Track The Mistral During The Next "Sea Trials"?

Schreenshot from the marinetraffic.com website (15th of Oct). Only the MMSI is left

It appears that sometimes, Interfax or other news agencies are delivering important pieces of information that are not relayed by the media, most certainly because nobody understood its importance. Here is one from yesterday.

The very important piece is :" following the Vladivostok's two trial cruises in the Bay of Biscay, the two Russian crews switched off the automatic identification system used by the French Navy."

According to Wikipedia : Information provided by AIS ( Automatic Identification System) equipment, such as unique identification, position, course, and speed, can be displayed on a screen or an ECDIS. AIS is intended to assist a vessel's watchstanding officers and allow maritime authorities to track and monitor vessel movements.

We have just learned that two other trainings for the russian military sailors will take place, one this week end and one beginning of next week.

The MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity) is still available but does not allow a "live" tracking. For exemple, the last information received from it is older than 24 hours as we speak (check this here: http://www.vesselfinder.com/?mmsi=227022600)

So, the question is now: Will the French authorities be able to track the "Vladivostok" properly during the next "sea trials"? With always the idea in mind that it might end up in international waters and from there, escape to Russia.

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Full text from Interfax:

Russian crew ready to put Mistral under operational control

St. Petersburg, October 14 19:05 (Interfax-AVN) – The Russian crew of the amphibious helicopter carrying ship Vladivostok of the Mistral type, built by STX France in Saint-Nazaire, is ready to assume control of the ship in the coming days, a spokesman for the Main Staff of the Russian Navy told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.

"The acceptance procedure has entered the final stage. Our crew will be able to run the ship on their own before the end of October. We have yet to get the French side's decision whether to handover the ship to Russia," he said.

The Russian crew have explored the ship sufficiently over the past four months, practicing skills to control it at sea and on the coast, and summarized all the flaws revealed and passed a report over to the shipyard, he said.

He said that following the Vladivostok's two trial cruises in the Bay of Biscay, the two Russian crews switched off the automatic identification system used by the French Navy. No further voyages are being planned thus far.

The Vladivostok's handover ceremony is scheduled for November 4, earlier reports said.

Sources and trackers:

http://www.interfax.com/news.asp?y=2014&m=10&d=14&pg=2

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/227022600

http://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/VLADIVOSTOK-IMO-0-MMSI-227022600

http://www.vesselfinder.com/?mmsi=227022600