Sanary-sur-Mer (on the French Riviera) is the first of the 9 cruise ports in the Var Provence Cruise Club network investing and setting up a mooring buoy.
The new environmentally-friendly equipment helps protect Posidonia sea bed. It will also allow future cruise ships to be welcomed in the best security and safety conditions.
After several years of administrative procedures and a public inquiry, since March 2021 the mooring buoy has been operational in the Sanary-sur-Mer bay.
The cost of the investment amounted to ~EUR 500 K.
The size of the mooring buoy is calibrated for ships with a maximum length of 224 metres and a maximum gross tonnage of 56,000.
The equipment is perfectly adapted to the fleet of luxury cruise companies who are regularly scheduling visits to Sanary. A total of 11 cruise ship calls are scheduled for 2021 by the luxury brands Azamara, Seabourn, Seadream, Windstar.
Under the responsibility of the port city, all cruise call requests are subject to prior authorization from Sanary-sur-Mer's Port Authority.
The mooring buoy provides cruise companies exclusivity in Sanary-sur-Mer with only one cruise vessel calling per day.