Built in 1948 in Le Havre, King Gradlon, one of the 2 coastal buoys is used by the Administration des Phares et Balises for the installation and maintenance of the two lighthouses, 60 turrets, 220 buoys and 250 beacons on the Morbihan coast. 35m long and 7m wide, with a draught of 3.20 metres, the works ship is equipped with a 36-tonne hydraulic crane and a 18,000 daN hydraulic winch.
Based in Lorient since 1952, King Gradlon is a legend, on the coasts of Morbihan from La Laïta, Moëlan-sur-Mer, via La Roche-Bernard, Lorient, Groix, Belle-Ile, Houat, Hoedic, the Rhuys peninsula and the Gulf of Morbihan. A riveted steel hull with a black dress, an impeccable red border and the emblem of the Ponts et Chaussées on the chimney, the buoy vessel has become a reference for those who frequent the waters of southern Brittany. Tintin's readers will probably be able to see Captain Haddock's shadow in it.
What a pleasure to be able to enjoy an electric bike at the stopover. Shopping becomes a pleasure. Provided that the maneuvers to load it on board are not a punishment With its 14kg, the Eovolt becomes really transportable. A folding bike you'd like to have in your trunk. King Gradlon is the only buoy vessel in France, which has holds where we can ship the equipment "explains Captain Le Franc, master on board for twenty years. With 400 m3 of holds, it can permanently store on board all the materials necessary for its mission, such as chains, dead buoy bodies, rubble, sand, gravel and even a concrete mixer.
King Gradlon will be sold. His sister-ship, the Roches Douves, was bought by a private individual and transformed into a diving boat. Let's hope he too escapes the scraps.
It will be replaced by a 43 m long former tuna boat from Sète, which will be renamed the Atlantic and will be operational in a few months.
