The ship touched bottom “due to poor management of the water level”, explained the maritime prefecture of the Channel.
A tourist boat ran aground on a rock off Saint-Malo on Saturday and 26 people were evacuated, AFP learned from the maritime prefecture.
According to the maritime prefecture, the evacuees had boarded the Renard, a copy of the privateer Surcouf’s boat.
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The alert was given to the regional operational surveillance and rescue center (Cross) around 12 noon, which coordinated the operations. “The boat, due to poor management of the water level, touched the bottom“Explained the on-call duty of the maritime prefecture of the Channel to AFP.
Mobilized in the operation, the national sea rescue company (SNSM) took charge of the evacuation of the passengers. “The SNSM of St-Malo evacuated 26 people while there were 28 on board“, added the premar. According to the maritime prefecture,people were docked an hour after the alert“, safe and sound.
Two crew members would have remained on site to help bring back the boat which was stranded less than two kilometers north of Saint-Malo.
Photos taken by local sailors passed to AFP showed the yellow and black sailboat out of the water with its keel caught in a rock stretching the full length of the ship.
Operations continued in order toclear the boat because there is no waterway“. Once cleared by the rising tide, the ship returned to port. It was again visible around 6:00 p.m. in the Vauban basin in Saint-Malo.
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30 meters long, the Renard is the replica of the last ship fitted out in 1812 by the Saint-Malo corsair Robert Surcouf (1773-1827). It is managed by the Étoile Marine company based in Saint-Malo, which offers cruises on heritage boats.