Seaman Filipe Latu is welcomed home by his nephew Chris Latu at Devonport, Auckland, after a seven-month deployment as part of an international task force providing maritime security in the Gulf of Aden, near Somalia.
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Latu was one of 182 on board the frigate HMNZS Te Mana which returned home yesterday, with a crowd of 700 family members greeting the ship on its arrival at Devonport Naval Base.
The ship fired a 17-gun salute as she arrived, replied by a seven-gun salute from the shore battery, while three Seasprite helicopters soared above. The Navy Band led families to the wharf, where a RNZN haka was answered by Ship's Company.