The wealthy tycoons and oligarchs enjoying summer on their luxury yachts in Saint-Tropez have been warned: cries of SOS, reports of fires, accidents or persons overboard may take a while to answer, reports The Guardian.
The French Riviera town’s lifeboat is out of action awaiting repairs while its volunteer crew accuse rich yacht captains of being too mean to stump up a few euros to pay for a replacement.
Resort Lifeboat officials said their ageing vessel, the Bailli de Suffren II, in service for more than 30 years, needed a spare part from Italy, and that it would not be putting to sea in the next two weeks.
The Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM) at Saint-Tropez has ordered a new 1.4 million-euro lifeboat, which is now under construction in Brittany with a delivery date for next spring. But it needed another 200,000 euros to pay for it to be equipped with high-tech electronic devices and for its delivery, the society said.
The SNSM wrote this year to wealthy individuals and companies owning luxury yachts moored at Saint-Tropez, asking them to put their hands in their pockets. The town is a playground of the global super-rich.
Pierre-Yves Barasc, the president of the Saint-Tropez lifeboat station, said the appeal sank almost without trace. The owner of one modest boat sent a 10,000-euro donation but the tycoons and oligarchs failed to come up with a centime.
Barasc told the local edition of the news outlet Var-Martin: “They said it wasn’t their problem. That’s not true. On the bigger boats last year we saved an eight-month-old baby. We also saved three youngsters caught on rocks – not a word of thanks, even from their father. Nothing! It’s almost as if it’s their right. It’s great to shower the young ladies with a bottle of 50,000-euro Cristal champagne, but they could be a little more restrained and help us a little more.
“We asked all the owners of important boats. No reply, except one promise never kept. A lone boat, far from being the biggest, gave 10,000 euros. If 30 people had done the same we could have had our new lifeboat quicker.”
Frédéric Saveuse, the deputy president of the Saint-Tropez lifeboat station, said: “We sent a personal letter to the 100 biggest businesses in the Var [département]. We sent another letter to the ten richest French people, owners of both a vessel and a property here. In total we had two replies. It’s frustrating.”
Barasc said he hoped his “angry outburst” had made people realise that the lifeboat service needed donations.