Yacht Sanitization in Antibes
Port Vauban: where much of the Mediterranean fleet spends the winter.
Antibes is a crew town and a wintering port. Yachts come here to sit out the off-season, change crew and get work done before heading back out. For everything we do, that is the ideal combination: time, access and a captain who is not fighting a guest calendar.
A winter berth with the crew still aboard
Unlike a shed layup, a yacht wintering in Antibes is lived on. That changes the water picture completely.
A boat with crew aboard all winter uses her water system every day — but only the parts the crew use. The crew mess tap and two heads get run constantly; eight guest cabins do not get touched for four months.
That is a worse pattern than a full layup, because the tank is being turned over and everyone assumes the system is fine. Meanwhile the guest side sits with warm still water in it, fed from a tank that is genuinely being used.
It is one of the reasons we insist on sampling the outlets nobody opens. On a wintering yacht that is where the difference shows.
Everything we can treat while you are in Antibes
The same six jobs make up almost every visit. On most yachts more than one of them is needed at the same time, which is why we survey first and then plan them into a single stop.
Fresh water system
Tanks, distribution lines and every outlet treated as one network, then checked.
Read more
Legionella testing and remediation
A sampling plan, accredited lab analysis, and treatment across the whole network if a sample comes back positive.
Read more
HVAC and air ducts
Ducts and air handling units opened, cleaned and checked, cabin by cabin.
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Fan coils and air conditioning
Units opened, coils and filters cleaned, condensate trays checked — where the smell on start-up usually comes from.
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Galley hoods and extraction
Filters, hood and the duct run behind it degreased, right up to the fan.
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Odour and mould investigation
Finding where a smell or a damp patch actually starts, instead of covering it.
Read moreSee the full list of services if you are looking for something more specific, such as water sampling, post-refit or charter turnaround work.
The whole winter is the window
There is no need to squeeze this into a weekend here. The only mistake is leaving it to April, when the whole coast wants the same week.
Do the air side early in the winter, while there is time to open cabins properly and put them back without hurry.
Do the final water treatment and sampling close to the spring restart, so the report describes the system the guests will use rather than the one the crew used in January.
From the first call to the report
The sequence is the same whichever berth you are on in Antibes. What changes is the timing, and that is planned around the yacht rather than around us.
We look before we quote
A technician goes through the yacht with the crew: which outlets are used daily and which almost never, where the air handling units sit, what the crew has actually noticed.
The visit is planned around you
We fit the work into the window you have — between charters, during a yard period, or over a quiet weekend alongside.
We work alongside
No yard move and no lift. The heavy equipment stays on the quay; only hoses and a small dosing unit come aboard, on protected decks.
You get it in writing
Sampling points, what was done, and the laboratory report where water was analysed. That document is what closes the job.
Every port has its own rhythm. We plan the visit around the berth and the crew, not the other way round.
Francesco Colombo
CEO · AirBio Marine, a division of AirBio (Ekonore S.r.l.)
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Our own technicians, certified processes
Every intervention is carried out by AirBio technicians employed and trained in house, never subcontracted. We work under certified management systems and close each job with a technical report the captain can file on board.
- ISO 9001Quality
- ISO 14001Environment
- ISO 45001Health & safety
- ISO 16636Pest management
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What a visit looks like
A few moments from the jobs we do on yachts every season: the equipment on the quay, the systems we open and the checks we close with. The same way of working applies in Antibes.
Other ports on the same run
If the yacht moves before we get to you, or you are berthed one harbour along, these are the pages for the ports next door.
Cannes
West along the bay.
Open
Nice
East, towards the airport.
Open
Monaco
Further east.
Open
Saint-Tropez
West along the coast.
OpenThe complete list is on the ports page.
Working in Antibes: frequently asked questions
The crew have been aboard all winter and nothing smells. Why sample?
Because the crew use a small part of the system. The guest cabins have been standing for months, and that is where a problem develops unnoticed.
When should the air-side work be done?
Early in the winter, while there is time. Left to spring it collides with everything else on the list and usually gets cut.
Can you work with crew living aboard?
Yes. We agree which cabins are opened when, so the crew always have somewhere to sleep and the work moves through the boat in sections.
Wintering in Antibes?
Tell us the yacht, whether crew are aboard and when she goes back into service. A technician calls you back within 24 hours.
Tell us about the yacht
Yacht length, marina, systems and what you have noticed on board. A technician reads the message and calls you back to plan the survey.
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Where we work
Italian Riviera and Tuscany marinas and yards — Viareggio, La Spezia, Portofino, Genoa, Sanremo, Livorno, Argentario — and other Mediterranean ports on request.
Documented work
Every job ends with a technical report and photos for the yacht's records.