Many abandoned boats among professionals
At the request of the French Nautical Industries Federation (FIN), the 2016 law on the blue economy introduced a legal mechanism to enable yachting professionals to solve the problem of boats abandoned on their moorings by their owners. "We had realized that most repair or trading yards have 1, 2 or even 3 or more boats at home where they no longer have any news from their owners. They find themselves stuck, even though they'd like to reclaim the space for new customers," sums up Guillaume Arnauld des Lions, in charge of this issue at the Fédération des Industries Nautiques.
A shared approach among yachting professionals
The law allows the professional to get rid of the suction boat by taking the following steps:
- Notice to the owner
- Referral to the Tribunal d'Instance
- Organization of the auction sale of the vessel or its destruction according to the court judgment
The cost of such a procedure for a single boat, estimated by FIN at between ?2,500 and ?3,000, may have slowed implementation of the measure. The organization therefore decided to pool the requests of its member companies to offer a more affordable package. For a fee of ?650 excl. tax per boat, after registration on the association's website, FIN's service provider provides :
- Formal notice to the owner if this has not been done by the professional
- Assessment of the market value of the vessel required for legal proceedings, in conjunction with the professional (on-site visit)
- Drafting the request for referral to the competent court judge
- Defending the claim before the competent court when summoned for a hearing
- Receipt of court order authorizing sale or destruction of vessel
- Putting the professional in touch with a competent auctioneer
In the event of failure, the professional is reimbursed.
"We've already broken in the system with around fifteen boats. By ensuring that the service provider has a geographical grouping of requests and a minimum number of 8 boats, he can make the most of his trips to see the boats and defend the cases in court. The result is an affordable rate. Without setting a target, we think that the number of cases is significant and that the service can convince shipyards to join and discover the rest of our actions" concludes Guillaume Arnauld des Lions.
