Lying on its side, for several days it has attracted the curiosity of the rare walkers who took advantage of a lull to treat themselves to a breath of fresh air at the Nature Base. A sailboat around ten meters long ran aground at the southern end of the beach, near the mouth of the Argens.
According to the prefecture, the ship sank last Saturday. Although the exact circumstances of the grounding are not yet known, the authorities estimate that “the strong easterly wind and rough seas make a rupture of the anchorage very likely”.
The sandy bottoms surrounding this sector, not conducive to strong anchoring, could therefore be the cause of this incident. Unless the boat has been moored to one of the buoys marking the swimming area.
Withdrawal procedure in progress
In all cases, “the owner has been identified and contacted”confirm the state services which are currently verifying its ability to remove the ship. “The owner will be required to carry out the withdrawal within a reasonable time. If he does not fulfill his obligation, the withdrawal will be carried out at his expense and risk by the authorities.”
There is therefore still reason to hope for a speedy resolution of the problem. Indeed, the search for the owner of the ship, his formal notice to proceed with the removal then the possible procedure for forfeiture of ownership, if the person cannot be found or insolvent, are all legal steps considerably lengthening the deadlines for entry into action by public authorities in this type of case. When it is not the question of paying the painful cost – several tens of thousands of euros – which is delaying the operations.
“On the beach, it should not pollute”
This while the removal of these wrecks represents a race against time before the ship ends up scattered in the sea and on the coasts like a puzzle at the next sea surge.
We particularly remember the Blue Velvet which, washed up in the summer of 2021, broke up a few months later. Thus polluting more than a kilometer of the rocky coasts of La Croix-Valmer.
In the case of the Base Nature sailboat, the prefectural services emphasize that “the quantities of diesel on board this type of vessel are very limited, of the order of 50 liters”. Considering furthermore that “the ship is safe on the beach at this time and should not cause any pollution, whether through waste or oil leaks.”
