CHARLES BABIN

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Crew member of towing vessel injured as buoy lighthouse tender broke lose

On Aug 14, 2018, at 3 a.m. the CROSS Etel was alerted by the distress beacon of the Dutch pleasure craft "Kounnar" which was towing the decommissioned "Charles Babin" from St. Nazaire to Spanish waters. The beacon was activated after the towing wire broke and a crew member suffered a serious leg injury 140 miles off the Gironde estuary. After having diverted the passenger m/v "Cap Finistère", the CROSS deployed an SAR helicopter of the air base in Cazaux which arrived on site at 6:37 a.m. The injured person was hoisted by the medical team of the helicopter and then transferred to Bordeaux where he was picked up at 08:00 a.m. by firefighters at the Mérignac airport. The Atlantic Maritime Prefecture ordered a surveillance mission and routed the ATL2 maritime patrol aircraft to make contact with the crew of the "Kounnar". They did not request any more assistance and indicates to rest before restoring the towing rig which had broken before. At 1:20 p.m. theyreported to the maritime authorities that they had returned to the "Charles Babin" and resumed the towing operation. Maritime surveillance flights were continued under the control of the maritime prefecture until the ships entered Spanish territorial waters.