The Corse, French flag, IMO n° 8003620, is for sale. Delivered in 1983 by Dubigeon Normandie shipyards at Prairie-au Duc (France), the ferry was operated by SNCM (Société Nationale Corse Méditerranée); she has mainly served the Nice-Corsica route in season and the Marseille-Maghreb route out of season.
In December 2014, after a period of shuttle service between Toulon and Corsica, she was decommissioned : the SNCM, partially privatized in 2006 and today going into receivership, did not plan to operate any further its services to Corsica from Toulon and Nice.
September 2015, the Corse at Marseille © Pascal Bredel
The Corse is at berth in Marseille. She is falling into disrepair under the surveillance of a watchman. The French State and the maritime security center of Marseille know that her fate is to be demolished. Considering the existence aboard the Corse of 53 tons of asbestos containing materials, 2.3 tons of lead, 5 kg of cadmium, 1 kg of mercury, and also hydrocarbon sludges, PCB, Chromium VI, ozone depleting CFC gases, the Corse must be recycled in a European facility. Accordingly, all the beaching options must be ruled out, either in India, in Pakistan, in Bangladesh or in Turkey. That was the fate of the Ile de Beauté, another SNCM ferry, exiled in Bizerte, Tunisia, sold to be further operated in Istanbul, and actually beached for demolition in Aliaga as Beau in July 2013.
July 2013, the ex-Ile de Beauté beached at Aliaga © Dunkan/MarineTraffic
