Coincidence of the calendar: when Xi Jinping, the president of the People’s Republic of China, arrived in France on Sunday, the Zhong Ren 121 stopped in front of the Mourillon beaches in Toulon. A ship (admittedly merchant) flying the Chinese flag, authorized to anchor near the Toulon naval base, the image must have worried more than one.
Information taken from the maritime prefecture of the Mediterranean, the orange-red boat comes to pick up two old door boats (1) slated for deconstruction, and which were used until then to close the arsenal basins.
Like the five old hulls of the French Navy that recently left Toulon, the two carrier boats are destined for Bordeaux, and more precisely the deconstruction site of Cardem, a subsidiary of Vinci. On the other hand, it is therefore not in tow that they will leave the harbor of Toulon, but loaded on the deck of the Zhong Ren 121. The latter, specialized in the transport of heavy packages, has the particularity of being able to sink into the water to load its cargo.
A somewhat delicate operation which will have to wait until the end of Toulon Provence Regatta, a regatta which will bring together around twenty 12 MJI sailboats, from this Tuesday May 7 and until May 12.
1. Kind of metal boxes used to close refit basins, in order to be able to empty them.
