Boatcom’s boat moves 300m from the shore – Boatcom
Usually, in May, on the occasion of its film festival, Cannes sees giant advertising posters grow. Pretty much everywhere. And legally. The event finally postponed to July, the facades of palaces and buildings have remained free in recent days, and it is a completely different type of display that has come to talk about him. Unpublished. On the water. While the National Assembly voted in early April to ban advertising planes by 2022. But the 32 m2 of LED screens fixed on the boat of the Boatcom company have given rise to hostile comments to say the least. On social networks but also from the mayor of the city.
While some Internet users regret, photos and videos in support of “visual pollution” spoiling “a superb view”, David Lisnard (LR), he split a letter addressed to the maritime prefect. He accuses him of having “authorized” this initiative. “It is unacceptable because inequitable and ugly”, decided the elected at the conclusion of his letter. Solicited by 20 minutes, the prefectural authority replies that it is a legal vacuum that has allowed the Riviera company to travel along the coast since last year.
The owner of Boatcom pleads against “double standards” and recalls that the primary vocation of his boat is “ecological”.
“We’re just passing through”
“Boatcom is a boat that was designed to collect waste at sea by being financed by advertisements from local traders. We collect one bag per week, ”explains Jean-Pierre Nevoret. And he attacks: “The installations of Ninja Warrior [pour son émission actuellement tournée sur le Vieux-port de Cannes, TF1 installe de grands échafaudages], that’s horrible and in addition it consumes a lot of energy. Yet the mayor of Cannes encourages him. The huge cruise ships stationary in the bay, that’s an undeniable visual pollution. We are just passing through. “
This entrepreneur started in 2019. He then applied to the maritime prefecture. “We were opposed to a decree of 1929 which could not be applied. They tried to prevent us from sailing. But this winter, I took a law firm and it was clear that nothing was against what we were doing, ”continues Jean-Pierre Nevoret.
The maritime prefecture confirms that it had first tried to subject Boatcom’s activity to “prior authorization from the prefect”. Procedure which had been followed by an appeal in litigation finally withdrawn. Because the authority can not oppose that a boat displays advertising beyond the band of 300 m, managed by the municipalities.
“The risk is to have several”
“We are not in favor of it but, as it stands, we do not have the means to prohibit it. The regulations are fragile. The risk is, however, that we end up with several of these advertising boats ”along the coasts very frequented by tourists, points out the captain Christine Ribbe, spokesperson for the maritime prefect. Especially since some might see it as a godsend by switching from air to water.
Last year, the State services had tried to find a way out by collecting the opinions of the 43 municipalities of the Riviera coast in front of which Boatcom wanted to sail. Only two, Fréjus and Saint-Mandier, in the Var, were in favor. The others and in particular those of the Alpes-Maritimes had opposed it or had not decided.
This year, the maritime prefecture therefore asked the Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition to have regulations set within the framework of the Climate and Resilience Act. “We are in favor of the sea remaining a space of freedom”, without visual pollution continues the spokesperson. Consultations are ongoing.