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.
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.
