CMA CGM: A look back on the successful rescue operation of Kito de Pavant

Vendée Globe 2016: a look back on the successful rescue operation of Kito de Pavant, victim of a serious damage in the Southern Ocean, who has been saved by CMA CGM’s crew onboard the Marion Dufresne

This Wednesday morning, the Marion Dufresne and her CMA CGM crew successfully completed the rescue operation of Kito de Pavant. The skipper, participating in the the Vendée Globe Race, suffered a serious damage on Tuesday, December 6, while sailing close to the Crozet Islands, South of South Africa. The reactivity and the know-how of the CMA CGM crew of Marion Dufresne, led by Commander Thierry Dudouit, made the success of this rescue operation possible. Warned yesterday morning, the crew of the Marion Dufresne had immediately changed its course to rescue the Kito de Pavant as fast as possible. The ship then proceeded at full speed the 120 nautical miles to the damaged sailboat. Despite of the extremely difficult weather conditions with a wind of force 8 to 9 and waves of up to 8 meter, the Marion Dufresne arrived 6 hours later Arriving at dusk, Commander Dudouit and Kito de Pavant decided to wait until sunrise before launching the rescue operation for security reasons. During all this time, the vessel remained at a short distance from the boat, and Marion Dufresne's CMA CGM crew kept a permanent telephone contact with the skipper standing by to intervene if he had to leave his sailboat. At 4am, Marion Dufresne’s zodiac got into the water with three sailors on board, and started approaching the damaged sailboat. Despite a heavy swell, the zodiac was able to position itself to have Kito de Pavant embarked. The skipper was then brought onboard the Marion Dufresnes where he was warmly welcomed by CMA CGM’s crew and the doctor onboard. Kito de Pavant will stay onboard the Marion Dufresne while she finishes her tour bringing supplies to Crozet, Kerguelan and Amsterdam Islands. He will disembark on La Réunion Island on December 30. CMA CGM has been operating the Marion Dufresne, a supply vessel for the French Southern Lands and the largest French ocean vessel owned by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF), since 1995.