Abeille Flandre

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:
Launched:
Commissioned:	1978
Decommissioned:
Fate:
Struck:
General characteristics
Displacement:	2220 tonnes
Length:	63.45 m
Beam:	14.74 m
Draught:	6.90 m
Propulsion:	4 Atlas-MaK K 8 M453 AK diesels, 4 x 2350 kW (12800 HP)
Speed:	17 knots
Range:
Complement:	10 men
Detection:	2 Racal Decca radars
Motto:

The Abeille Flandre is a high sea tug of the French Navy. She is the property of the French private company Abeilles International, and had been operated by the French Navy since December 1979.

She had previously been based in Brest, where she assisted traffic off the coast of Bretagne. The Abeille Flandre could set out with a 20-minute warning, or whenever winds in excess of 25 knots were recorded in Ouessant. She was replaced at this station in April 2005 by the more powerful, 80-metre Abeille Bourbon. The Abeille Flandre is now based in Toulon on the Mediterranean.

French rescue tugs on government contracts operate under orders of the préfet maritime. If the salvage is successful, the French state earns half the value of the salvaged cargo. When the vessels are not required for government service, operators of can request of the préfet that they be released to perform private salvage and rescue missions. Rates for private salvages are negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Fees are never charged to rescue people.

The Abeille Flandre is famous and popular in France for her role after the sinkings of the Erika and the Ievoli Sun. Hervé Hamon wrote an hommage in his book L'Abeille d'Ouessant.

Like all vessels in French Government service, the Abeille Flandre is recognizable by angled blue-white-red stripes on her sides.