 On July 17, 1973 French commandos stormed the "Fri" and arrested the crew and ship, impounding ship and crew firstly at Mururoa and then at Hao Island.The publicity surrounding the "Fri" expedition in 1973 and the protest voyages of David McTaggart on the yacht Vega in 1972 and 1973, (McTaggart was severely beaten by French commandos in 1973), made international news and heralded an invigorated protest movement from New Zealand and Australia which eventually forced the French to cease nuclear testing in the Pacific in 1996.The French Military conducted more than 200 nuclear tests at Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls over a thirty-year period, 40 of them atmospheric.