ABEILLE FLANDRE

scrapped

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Propeller of famous tug returned to Brest

On July 4 the 5-ton-propeller of the 'Abeille Flandre' has returned to Brest to be permanently exhibited in the Parc à Chaînes. The propeller, with its transmission shaft, recalls the history of the emblematic storm chaser. One of the captains of Abeille Flandre, Charles Claden (sponsor of Brest 2024), will come to celebrate the opening on July 14. After having been refurbished, the propeller testifies to the power of the tug whose mission was to defend the Breton coasts from maritime disasters, after the grounding and loss of the tanker 'Amoco Cadiz'. Report with photo: https://www.letelegramme.fr/finistere/brest-29200/lhelice-de-labeille-flandre-est-arrivee-au-parc-a-chaines-de-brest-6619587.php

Broken up

Broken up at Brest 30.09.22

Propeller and shaft handed over to City of Brest

The propeller and shaft of the 'Abeille Flandre' were handed over to the city of Brest during a ceremony on Sep 13, 2023, at the commercial port, where Navaleo (Recycleurs Bretons group) has been deconstructing the tug since Aug 25. The shaft and the propeller weighing 19 tonnes (five for the propeller alone) could be exhibited on Quai du Commandant Malbert as close as possible to the 'Abeille Bourbon', hoped François Cuillandre, mayor of Brest as a symbolic present for the city which was the home port of the 'Abeille Flandre' for a little over 25 years. The tug, chartered by the French Navy for 43 years, monitored the surroundings of the channel entry traffic separation system and the Iroise Sea from 1979 to 2005, carrying out 624 towing or rescue operations. Originally ordered for the Swedish shipowner Neptun, the 'Abeille Flandre' and 'Abeille Languedoc' were initially intended for offshore works and towing of oil platforms. But Neptun having gone bankrupt, they had been disarmed and laid up in a Norwegian fjord. At the same time, the French State, following the sinking of the tanker 'Amoco Cadiz' in March 1978 and the oil spill that followed, chose the Les Abeilles shipping line to find and provide tugs capable of salvaging ships suffering from damage or accidents. The two tugs were thenchartered by the French Navy and started their tasks in 1979 in Brest and Cherbourg, under the names 'Abeille Flandre' and 'Abeille Languedoc'. Following the arrival of the 'Abeille Bourbon' in Brest and the 'Abeille Liberté' in Cherbourg in 2005, the 'Abeille Flandre' was transferred to Toulon, while the 'Abeille Languedoc', repositioned to La Rochelle in 2006, left in 2011 to Boulogne-sur-Mer, where she ended its career monitoring the Pas-de-Calais Strait. The tugs were replaced in 2022 in Toulon and Boulogne by the 'Abeille Méditerranée' and the 'Abeille Normandie'. Report with photo: https://www.meretmarine.com/fr/construction-navale/l-helice-du-mythique-remorqueur-abeille-flandre-remise-a-la-ville-de-brest