Société nationale de sauvetage en mer (SNSM)

The Société nationale de sauvetage en mer (SNSM) entered into a regional partnership agreement with RTE to support maritime safety arrangements linked to the IFA2 subsea electricity interconnector between France and Great Britain. The partnership was signed on 13 April 2019 with the SNSM station of Ouistreham, in the context of offshore electrical works and associated marine operations required for the IFA2 project. Under this agreement, the SNSM provided a structured safety and coordination capability intended to improve the protection of personnel and vessels operating at sea during the project’s offshore work programme. The engagement was explicitly connected to the IFA2 interconnector’s marine activities, aligning emergency response preparedness with the operational risks present during offshore electrical works. The partnership supported RTE’s broader marine operational planning for IFA2 by reinforcing local sea-rescue readiness and coordination in the project’s nearshore/offshore work area on the French side of the English Channel. This role related to the construction-phase maritime execution of IFA2, when cable-lay and other offshore works were being undertaken offshore Normandy.