The increase in weight caused a negative pitch, which worsened while more compartments filled.
At 07:17, a Super Frelon of the French Navy departed to evacuate the 14-man crew of the tanker, amid 65-knot (120 km/h; 75 mph) winds.
An hour later, the helicopter arrived on the scene, and evacuated the crew in 40 minutes.
The tugboat Abeille Flandre arrived and started tugging the tanker at four knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) toward Normandy.
The D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso Lieutenant de vaisseau Lavallée and the Tripartite-class minehunter Céphée were sent on the scene to reinforce Abeille Flandre and monitor pollution.