Overview
- On July 3, Mayor Christian Estrosi boarded a launch to confront Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas after it arrived with 3,114 passengers in Villefranche-sur-Mer, exceeding the new cap.
- The Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur regulation enacted July 1 restricts cruise calls in the rade de Villefranche-sur-Mer to 65 per year, one per day, and no more than 2,500 passengers per vessel.
- Estrosi ordered the Voyager of the Seas to leave territorial waters, filed a formal complaint with the ecological transition ministry and maritime prefecture, and warned of sanctions for non-compliance.
- The Union Maritime des Alpes-Maritimes and France’s maritime prefecture have publicly contested the city’s authority, denouncing the mayor’s boarding attempt as illegal and challenging the regulation’s validity.
- The episode underscores growing jurisdictional tensions between municipal officials, port authorities and departmental maritime agencies over sustainable tourism and environmental enforcement.