As a result of strong gusts of wind, dozens of boats ran aground on the coast of La Seyne-sur-Mer. The owners sometimes take several weeks before coming to recover their wreck.
History repeats itself in La Seyne-sur-Mer. Dozens of stranded boat wrecks stretch out on the Tamaris Corniche on Wednesday, a result of high winds that hit the town over the weekend.
This phenomenon is well known to the town of Var: the town hall regularly asks owners to shelter their boat but some have obviously missed the call. A situation denounced by the municipality.
“I am annoyed, very annoyed and sad to see that people who have a boat – which many people could dream of – arrive, put their boat in the middle without any precaution, without any knowledge, without any anchoring skills. They abandon their boat there for months and no longer monitor it”, denounces Joseph Minniti, deputy mayor in charge of nautical life and port policy, at the microphone of BFM Toulon Var.
“Mini-ecological disasters”
The chosen one recalls that a “boat is not just pleasure” but also “a load” which must be “take care of”. Especially since these wrecks sometimes stay on the coast for several months to deteriorate because their owners cannot be found and the town hall does not necessarily have the means to get them out of the water.
This type of situation is not without ecological consequences. “Motor oils, gasoline”, lists André Delacourte, president of the “Littoral Seynois” association at the microphone of BFM Toulon Var.
“These boats will gradually deteriorate and will bring plastic pollution. It is regularly mini-ecological disasters”, affirms the president of the Littoral Seynois association.
If the town hall says it is powerless to fight against this phenomenon, it is nevertheless taking measures to try to get things moving. From June, a nautical brigade will be set up to monitor and control illegally anchored boats that run aground on the coast.
