Le Figaro Bordeaux
As it approached its final destination, a former military building intended to be deconstructed found itself in great difficulty at the entrance to the Gironde estuary on Wednesday.
The
Cassard
, a former frigate of the French Navy, is one of eight warships intended to be dismantled by the Grand Maritime Port of Bordeaux (GPMB), as part of an exceptional deconstruction project which will extend until 2026.
However, an unforeseen event required an operation involving a helicopter and two tugboats.
Around 8:30 a.m., the Atlantic regional operational surveillance and rescue center (CROSS-A) was notified that a trailer ruptured on the convoy which was bringing the ship to the port site of Bassens.
The CROSS-A took
“immediately the coordination of the operation”
, details the Atlantic Maritime Prefecture in a press release, in order to bring this ship from Toulon to the safe port.
Two tugs to the rescue of the ship
A helicopter based in La Rochelle had to be sent to the site to hoist a GPMB port team onto the hull of the
Cassard
.
“At the same time, a port tug, the
RM Thomas
from the port of Bordeaux, initially intended to escort the convoy upon its arrival in the estuary”
set off to meet him
.
The port team was winched aboard the
Cassard
at 12:40 p.m. and managed to stabilize the hull.
What followed was
“its delivery, at low speed, towards the port of Verdon-sur-Mer located at the entrance to the estuary”
, where the convoy, joined by a second tugboat around 7 p.m., ended up arriving without incident at Verdon around 8 p.m.
More fear than harm.
Two tugboats intervened to ensure that the
Cassard
arrived safely.
Atlantic Maritime Prefecture