The 2025 report of the State Action at Sea in French Polynesia highlights a busy year, marked by numerous collective successes and constant vigilance across an immense maritime area.
With its 4.4 million km² Exclusive Economic Zone, French Polynesia remains a maritime territory facing multiple challenges: environmental protection, preservation of fishery resources, combating illegal activities, and ensuring the safety of people and property at sea. In this strategic area — which also includes Clipperton — the coordination of State Action at Sea is based on an administrative and operational structure placed under the authority of the High Commissioner of the Republic. In French Polynesia, the High Commissioner of the Republic serves as the State’s representative at sea across the entire EEZ of French Polynesia and Clipperton.
In 2025, JRCC Tahiti coordinated 533 rescue and assistance operations, saving 293 people, despite twelve deaths or disappearances recorded. At the same time, CMC-PF monitored 729 recreational vessels.
Among the most notable operations was the rescue, in May 2025, of three-time Olympic champion Charline Picon, her husband, and their daughter aboard Luna Bay II in the Marquesas Islands. After their catamaran began taking on water following a collision with an unidentified floating object, the castaways were located and recovered thanks to the coordinated deployment of search and rescue resources, demonstrating the effectiveness of the system in place in Polynesian waters.
In September, a large-scale search conducted in the Tuamotu Archipelago mobilized teams to locate a resident of Apataki who had not been heard from for forty hours. Guided by drift modeling from Météo-France, the Armed Forces in French Polynesia ultimately found the survivor on a motu (islet) north of Kaukura.
Beyond the figures, this report underscores the scale of the daily mission carried out across one of the world’s largest maritime areas. Constant vigilance is required — and cooperation remains the strongest lifeline.
