After entering service,
Outeniqua undertook a "flag-showing" cruise to
Durban,
Majunga in Madagascar,
Moroni in the Comoros, and
Victoria in Seychelles between 18 June and 15 July 1993. In July that year she formed part of a South African task force of three warships and a submarine which visited
Maputo in Mozambique and Dar es Salaam; during this voyage
Outeniqua hosted a banquet for diplomats and senior Mozambican military officers. Between May and September 1997 she received another refit.
Outeniqua departed Simon's Town on 10 September that year to participate in a naval review in Australia at the start of October, but this visit did not go ahead as the review was cancelled as a result of the
September 11 attacks. Instead, she visited
Réunion and exercised with the
French Navy before returning to Simon's Town on 12 October. It is unclear if the voyage was conducted, however.
Outeniqua conducted her second visit to Saint Helena during December 2002, and also docked in Namibia before returning to Simon's Town. During June 2003
Outeniqua took part in a three-week-long naval exercise which involved eight warships, the submarine
SAS Assegaai and
South African Air Force aircraft. Also in 2003, the ship's crew repaired facilities at
Gough Island. In May 2004 it was reported that
Outeniqua was soon to be decommissioned. At this time, it was reported that she had spent only a third of her operational career at sea. ==References==