When Lieutenant Claudia Howland put her hand up to join a French polar vessel for a voyage across Southern Australia, she wasn't quite sure what to expect.
The surface warfare officer had never been on board one of France's Marine Nationale fleet ships, let alone the 72-metre L'Astrolabe - one of its icebreakers.
L'Astrolabe, based at the French island of Réunion in the Western Indian Ocean, is primarily used as a transport vessel during the winter months, carrying international scientists and supplies to bases in Antarctica via Hobart. In the warmer months, it participates in patrol activities for the Marine Nationale.
Lieutenant Howland spent eight days on board the icebreaker in October for the Perth-Hobart passage alongside two other Royal Australian Navy officers.
"The language barrier was a bit of a challenge, but the crew was great," she said.
"I managed to level the playing field by learning some of the more common naval phrases, which the crew helped me with.
"They were also really keen to learn and practice their English, so it all worked out well."
While on board, Lieutenant Howland and her colleagues were part of the ship's daily routines and participated in a range of evolutions with the 24-person crew, including damage control and leaving ship exercises.
'We're all the same kinds of people from similar walks of life, with shared values, doing the best we can to serve our countries to the highest standards.'
She also spent time on the bridge, where she observed many similarities between the two navies.
However, there were also differences in the daily routines for the ship's company that stood out and left a lasting impression on Lieutenant Howland - in a good way.
"It wasn't too formal, but for lunches and dinners, all the officers would gather in the wardroom and wait for the captain before eating," she said.
"Once the captain arrived, they'd sit and have a chat first as a group and then all eat together.
"There'd also be a whole crew meeting every morning to run through the day's program and where they needed to focus.
"When everyone would come up for that meeting, everyone would shake each other's hands and wish each other 'good morning' - from the lowest ranks through to the captain. There was a quite a nice camaraderie and closeness between the crew."
Despite some of the cultural differences, Lieutenant Howland said the experience reinforced the parallels between the Australian and French teams.
"It's such a cliché, but we're so much more alike than we are different. Like, truly the same," she said.
"At a general level, if you were to translate what their crew does and the experiences they have in their navy with ours, we're all the same kinds of people from similar walks of life, with shared values, doing the best we can to serve our countries to the highest standards."
