They have been waiting for two months for a solution! The sailors of the Larus will finally be able to leave the Breton tip after having spent two months almost at a standstill, at anchor, without setting foot on land. The end of year period must have been very long on board this new tanker, with propulsion failure.
We remember the troubled towing of the tanker by the Abeille Bourbon, in the middle of storm Darragh, on December 8, in the bay of Saint-Brieuc. In more than 100 km/h winds, the 100 m tanker was dragging on its two anchors and threatened to end up on the coast without a last-chance tow, with the second-in-command of the Abeille and sailors from on-call from the French Navy dropped off by helicopter to pass the cables and help raise the two anchors, in difficult conditions.
After spending almost a month at anchor in the bay of Saint-Brieuc, the adventures of the tanker which flew the flag of Palau and henceforth Sao Tome and Principe continued once sheltered in the bay of Douarnenez and Brest harbor since its owner was late in paying the towing bill. A slate estimated at around a million euros if we stick to comparable operations.
48-hour window of good weather
The preventive seizure of the ship did not help the affairs of the thirteen Russian and Georgian sailors, stuck at anchor, in the middle of the end of year period. Who to supply them, who to visit them? Laure Tallonneau of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) confirmed this Tuesday that she had not been called on board the ship during this waiting period (no complaints filed among the crew). Their refueling had to be done from the Polish tugboat, called to take it in tow once the bill was paid. The convoy could leave Brest this week, thanks to 48 hours of good weather, in accordance with instructions from the maritime prefecture. It’s up to the old Serval tugboat (24 meters) to play!
letelegramme Fr Trans