Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer


The Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer is a French voluntary organisation founded in 1967 by merging the Société Centrale de Sauvetage des Naufragés and the Hospitaliers Sauveteurs Bretons. Its task is saving lives at sea around the French coast, including the overseas départments and territories.
In 2009 the SNSM was responsible for about half of all sea rescue operations and saved 5,400 lives in 2,816 call-outs and assisted 2,140 boats in distress. 65% of funding comes from the private sector and 35% comes from the national government, the regions, the départements and the local communities.

Fleet

The SNSM has the following boats:
The boats are dispersed in 185 stations.

Incidents

On 7 Jun 2019, the lifeboat Jack Morisseau set out to rescue a fishing vessel in distress during a storm off the Atlantic coast of France. Twenty minutes after launch, someone reported that the lifeboat was upside down on rocks close to its launch point in Les Sables-d'Olonne. Three of the crew died, one was airlifted out of the sea and three others swam to shore. The fisherman was unaccounted for.