Recycling ahoy! New life for old boats

Located at the very end of a tiny peninsula, Gâvres is a typical picturesque town in Brittany, France. Boats stranded along the shore at low tide are a common sight. But as you get closer, hulls turned upside down, worn paint and mould growing on the derelict boats tell a different story. 

Some are wooden, from the 20th century. Others are a lot more recent and made of plastic. What they both have in common is that they have been dumped there by the owners, turning a quiet beach into an eerie marine graveyard.

According to Vassilis Spyratos from the Morbihan Sea and Land Agency, this is just one example among many across France. A clean-up operation will soon begin in Gâvres to remove the abandoned boats, sponsored by local authorities. 

"It shouldn't be here," says Spyratos, pointing to a small catamaran. "It's as if you had a bunch of garbage or your old car you needed to get rid of and you dumped it in the nearest forest."

And Gâvres is not an exception. There are many others like it along France's coastline. 

"In the Morbihan department alone, we remove about 40 wrecks per year," he concludes.

Abandoned boats don’t just pollute the view. They're also an environmental hazard.

It’s hard to know just how many have been dumped by their owners onshore, in harbours, gardens and landfills. But there could be as many as 5,000 wrecks along France's coastline. 

As they crack and age, boats release a wide range of substances, many of which cannot degrade, like tiny bits of plastic and fibreglass. The paint begins to fade, not to mention oil, fuel and battery fluid leaking from the wreckage.

All this waste will continue to pile up as more vessels enter the age of retirement, many of them dating back to the