Legal framework
Governing: préfet maritime de la Méditerranée reflex sheets; AP 123/2019 art. 3.5; Division 240 (kill-cord, VHF on rental boats). Applies to: anyone afloat off the French coast.
Who answers
France runs regional rescue coordination centres, the CROSS (centres régionaux opérationnels de surveillance et de sauvetage). On the Mediterranean mainland and in Corsica it is CROSS MED, based at La Garde near Toulon, working with the coastal sémaphores (signal stations) along the coast. They coordinate lifeboats, helicopters and any nearby vessels.
How to reach them
| Means | Use |
|---|---|
| VHF channel 16 | Distress, urgency and safety calls; every nearby boat hears you as well |
| VHF DSC distress button (if fitted) | Sends an automatic alert, with position if GNSS is connected |
| 196 from a phone | Free number to the maritime rescue centre |
| 112 | European emergency number; it will pass you on |
Rental boats going beyond 2 nm carry a VHF (Division 240, art. 240-3.03). Using a marine radio normally requires an operator's certificate; a French permis côtier includes it for French territorial waters, so check your own position if you hold a foreign licence. In a real emergency, use the radio anyway.
WARNING — the rental base is not the rescue service Call CROSS first. The base can send a boat for a flat battery; it cannot run a search for a person in the water.
What to say
Speak slowly. The order below is what the rescuer needs, in the order they need it.
- MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY (grave and imminent danger to life) or PAN-PAN (urgent, not life-threatening, for example engine failure drifting towards rocks).
- Who: boat name or registration number, type and colour.
- Where: position from the GNSS or plotter, or a bearing and distance from a known point ("1 mile south of the lighthouse").
- What: the problem, and what help you want.
- How many people aboard, whether they wear lifejackets, and any injuries.
Then keep listening on channel 16 or keep the phone line free.
Person overboard from a boat or jet ski
- The kill-cord should stop the engine. Division 240 requires a spare kill-cord aboard, quickly accessible, so that someone else can restart and return.
- Keep the person in sight; point at them continuously.
- Approach from downwind and stop the engine or put it in neutral before they are near the propeller.
- If you lose sight of them, call CROSS immediately.
Breakdown and drift
- Anchor if the depth and seabed allow, to stop drifting onto rocks (posidonia rules give way to safety).
- Lifejackets on everyone.
- A PAN-PAN call if drifting into danger; the base's number if simply stranded in a safe spot.
Staying reachable
At anchor, the skipper must be reachable by VHF or, failing that, by phone by the sémaphore or CROSS (AP 123/2019 art. 3.5). Keep a charged phone in a waterproof pouch and the base's number saved.
TIP — write it down Before leaving, write on a card: boat name, registration number, 196, the base's number and the name of the nearest harbour. In an emergency nobody remembers the registration.