Abeille Bourbon

The Abeille Bourbon — now renamed Abeille Bretagne — is an 80-metre ocean-going emergency tug of the UT 515 type, permanently stationed in the port of Brest since 2005. Built for the Les Abeilles shipping company and christened by Bernadette Chirac, the vessel stands ready around the clock to assist ships in distress off the Breton coast and the open Atlantic. As one of the few dedicated emergency tugs on France's Atlantic seaboard, it represents a rarely visible but critical branch of maritime rescue operations. The vessel's imposing hull is visible from the quayside in Brest harbour.