“Sailors share much more than a profession, they share a brotherhood” by Philippe Gall, Managing Director of COQ MARÉE.
On the night of October 22-23, 2025, the trawler Perle d’Albâtre, owned by the COQ MARÉE fishing company, drifted in a storm off the coast of Ouistreham, having suffered an engine failure. Without propulsion, the boat and its crew were exposed to a raging sea.
What follows is an exemplary demonstration of what the French maritime world does best.
Under the coordination of CROSS Jobourg, the Sea Rescue Service (SNSM), the French Navy, the maritime emergency medical service (SAMU maritime), and port services mobilized. Another vessel from the shipping company attempted to assist. Even a ferry was diverted to break the swell. For more than twelve hours, the rescue operation worked tirelessly and succeeded in bringing the sailors back safe and sound.
In this article, Philippe Gall recalls an essential truth often invisible on land: being a fisherman is a demanding profession, where preparation, training and collective discipline make the difference between tragedy and rescue.
It is also about belonging to a brotherhood, for which mutual aid is not an abstract principle but a vital reflex.
When a boat docks in Dieppe after such a night, it is not just a tide that comes to an end, it is a collective victory of solidarity over adversity.
👉 A powerful testimony to the nobility of the seafaring profession, and to a French rescue chain unique in the world.
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