The port of Sanary-sur-Mer is breaking new ground: it is the first of the nine ports in the Var Provence Cruise Club network (France) to invest in and install a mooring buoy. This new, environmentally friendly equipment helps protect the Posidonia seabed and will allow future cruise ships to be accommodated under the best possible safety and security conditions, minimizing the use of anchors that can damage the Posidonia seagrass meadows.
After several years of administrative procedures, the mooring buoy in the bay of Sanary-sur-Mer has been operational since March 2021. The cost of this investment amounted to approximately €500,000 and was co-financed by the Agence de l'Eau Rhône Méditerranée Corse, the Region Sud, the Var Department, and the city of Sanary. The mooring buoy is calibrated for vessels with a maximum length of 224 meters and a maximum gross tonnage of 56,000 tons. This equipment is perfectly suited to the fleets of luxury cruise lines that regularly schedule calls in Sanary-sur-Mer: 11 calls are expected in 2021 from cruise ships such as SeaDream Yacht Club, Windstar Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, and Azamara Cruises
Under the city's responsibility, all cruise ship call requests are subject to prior authorization from the Sanary-sur-Mer Port Authority. This mooring buoy offers cruise lines exclusivity in Sanary, with only one cruise call per day. This guarantees a high-quality visit with complete peace of mind for your passengers.
Furthermore, the city holds ISPS (International Ship and Port Facility Security) certification, guaranteeing that cruise ships calling at Sanary will have security measures in place (restricted area, passenger screening, etc.) and that cruise passengers will be safe in the port. Besides the commercial port of Toulon, only three other cities in the Var region have received this certification: Sanary, Saint-Raphaël, and Saint-Tropez.
