''Abeille Bourbon'' is a high seas

emergency tow vessel An emergency tow vessel, also called emergency towing vessel, (ETV) is a multi purpose boat used by state authorities to tow disabled vessels on high seas in order to prevent dangers to man and environment. The disabled vessel is either towed to ...

(

salvage tug A salvage tug, known also historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...

), long with a tractive power of , a crew of 12, designed by

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture occupations Design occupations Architecture, Occupations ...

Sigmund Borgundvåg. She was christened by

Bernadette Chirac Bernadette Thérèse Marie Chirac ( Chodron de Courcel; born 18 May 1933) is a French politician and the widow of the former president Jacques Chirac. She and Chirac met as students at Sciences Po, and were married on 16 March 1956. They had t ...

on 13 April 2005 in the presence of sponsor Jacques de Chateauvieux. She is based in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. ''Abeille Bourbon'' is owned by Abeilles International, a unit of Groupe Bourbon. She is chartered to the French government and can be called upon by the

Maritime Prefect A maritime prefect ( French: ''Préfet maritime'') is a servant of the French State who exercises authority over the sea in a particular region under French jurisdiction, known as a maritime arrondissement (''Arrondissement maritime''). His admini ...

of Brest at any time. She was commissioned to replace the older '' Abeille Flandre'', which was reassigned to the French

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coast. ''Abeille Bourbon'' is a

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

of ''

Abeille Liberté The ''Abeille Liberté'' is an emergency tow vessel (salvage tug) based in Cherbourg Harbour, France. It is a sister ship of '' Abeille Bourbon''. It was built at the Myklebust Verft shipyard in Gursken, Norway, which is part of the Kleven Mar ...

''. ''Abeille'' means ''bee'' in French. Tow vessels are traditionally named according to their activities around the ships they assist; in this case, like a bee around a flower.

Notable operations

*Towing '' Modern Express'', in 2016; * Lightening ''Rokia Delmas'' in October 2006 * Towing ''

MSC Napoli ''MSC Napoli'' was a United Kingdom- flagged container ship that developed a hull breach due to rough seas and slamming in the English Channel on 18 January 2007. She was deliberately run aground at Lyme Bay to avoid an environmental disaster ...

'' in January 2007 * Towing '' YM Uranus'' in October 2010

Gallery

File:Bridge of the Abeille Boubon.jpg, Bridge of ''Abeille Bourbon'' File:Rokia Delmas échoué.jpg, Towing the

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

-registered

ConRo Conor Patton, better known by his stage name Conro, is a Canadian DJ and record producer, based in Kelowna, British Columbia. He is best known for his song "Therapy" with over 21 million streams on Spotify and as an artist of the Canadian recor ...

''Rokia Delmas'' near the

Île de Ré Île de Ré (; variously spelled Rhé or Rhéa; Poitevin: ''ile de Rét''; en, Isle of Ré, ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France near La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. Its highe ...

in 2006 File:Abeille Bourbon (Brest).JPG, ''Abeille Bourbon'' in Brest during Les Tonnerres de Brest 2012.

References

External links

*
''Abeille Bourbon''
at Netmarine.net Tugboats of France 2005 ships Ships built in Norway {{boat-stub