It was a summer vacation under high tension.
The Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea has just taken stock of the operations carried out during last summer and it is not good ... Between June 1 and September 30, the Regional Operational Monitoring Center and Sauvetage en Mer (Cross), based in Jobourg (Manche), undertook 441 rescue operations linked to water sports.
This is almost 15% more than last year ... More than 1,000 people found themselves in a delicate, even perilous situation, that is to say 35% more than in the summer of 2019!
And there are ultimately four deaths at sea and one disappearance.
Occasional boaters ...
These very significant data "are mainly explained by a lack of knowledge of the maritime area on the part of often occasional boaters and shortcomings in the preparation of navigation", one explains to the Maritime Prefecture.
Indeed, the vast majority of rescue operations concern motor or sail boaters.
It is in fact an indirect and unexpected consequence of the health crisis.
"A large number of holidaymakers have redirected to French resorts, thus discovering new types of maritime leisure activities, without necessarily obtaining sufficient information on the upstream safety rules", further explain the health authorities.
The tide surprised many
This finding is even more alarming for fishermen on foot or hikers.
Rescue operations for people isolated by the tides have increased by 135% compared to last summer!
“This is the textbook case of inexperience.
Most of the rescued shore-based fishermen were not from the region and had a poor understanding of the risks involved, ”concludes the CROSS Jobourg.
