MINCK

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22 migrants rescued in two missions

On the early morning of Feb 12, the Frennch border police informed the CROSS Gris-Nez of a migrant boat leaving near Wimereux. The 'Minck' was deployed to locate the boat. The SAMU then informed the CROSS of distress calls coming from the boat. The 'Minck' was informed by the CROSS, and rescued 16 people from the boat before it continued on its way with the rest of the occupants. Given the risks of falling overboard or of injuries incurred by the people in the event of a forced intervention by French rescue resources, the decision was made to let them continue their journey, while ensuring that their crossing was monitored. The rescued people were brought back to Boulogne-sur-Mer. The same morning, a second boat was reported leaving Le Portel. It was unable to set sail and one person was stranded on a sandbank. The CROSS then engaged the 'Abeille Normandie' as well as a Dauphin helicopter of the French Navy base in Le Touquet, which rescued the person and dropped him off on the beach where he was taken care of by the firefighters. In the meantime, the boat set sail with five occupants. They were rescued at the end of the morning by the 'Abeille Normandie' after the boat had suffered an engine failure. In total, 22 people were rescued at sea under the coordination of the CROSS Gris-Nez.

230 migrants rescued during five operations

On the night of Feb 8 and on Feb 9, numerous departures of migrant boats were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. In the Pas de Calais Strait sector the departure of a migrant boat around was noticed off Gravelines, and the 'Ridens' was deployed for surveillance. On the early morning, the rubber boat quickly deflated off Calais. The 'Ridens' immediately rescued the 57 people on board with the help of the two semi-rigid boats of the 'Abeille Normandie' as reinforcements. Once they were rescued on board, the 'Ridens' raised alert about the condition of three migrants, one of them being unconscious and two suffering from hypothermia. The CROSS Gris Nez engaged the medical team of the SMUR Maritime of Boulogne-sur-Mer who were dropped off on board by a Dauphin helicopter of the French Navy base in Le Touquet. The unconscious victim was airlifted to the hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer. The other two were dropped off in Calais by the Ridens and taken care of by the rescue services at around 9:45 am. At the same time, the CROSS Gris-Nez engaged the 'Minck' to monitor a boat that had left Le Portel. The 38 occupants requested assistance and were picked up by the vessel, which disembarked them in Boulogne-sur-Mer where they were taken care of early in the morning. On the morning of Feb 9, a third boat in distress was reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez off Petit-Fort-Philippe, and the 'Abeille Normandie' was deployed to assist. 19 people were then rescued, while the boat, with 40 other people on board, continued its route towards the British coast, without requesting assistance. A fourth boat was reported leaving Malo-les-Bains. The CROSS Gris-Nez engaged the PSP 'Cormoran' and the Dauphin helicopter of the French Navy base in Le Touquet. The patrol boat made contact with the boat, and it turned out that some of the occupants required emergency assistance. 42 people from the boat were recovered using semi-rigid boats from the 'Cormoran'. Among them, two people were injured. The CROSS informed the SAMU in order to send a medical team to the scene using a Dauphin helicopter of the French Navy. These two people were then winched up and dropped off at the hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer. The boat with 17 people still on board continued its route without requesting assistance. At taround 8:00 p.m., the patrol boat 'Jeanne Barret' rescued 33 people on a boat that had left on the earlymorning from the Baie de Somme sector. This operation followed an attempted boarding, at the beaches of Berck-sur-Mer. During this attempt, 41 people who were unable to board were rescued on the beach by the State services, under the coordination of the CROSS Gris-Nez. In total, 230 people were rescued at sea, under the coordination of the CROSS Gris-Nez during five operations.

Assistance to migrant boat off the Somme

On the morning of Jan 21, a migrant boat departure was reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez at the coast of the Somme. The 'Minck' was tasked to search for the boat. In addition, the CROSS deployed the 'Garonne' of the French Navy to reinforce the searches. On the early afternoon, the Navy vessel spotted the boat and ensured its close surveillance. Following a series of breakdowns, all people aboard were picked up by the 'Garonne', responding to the boat's request for assistance. With the agreement of the CROSS, the latter recovered the 59 people, before heading to Boulogne-sur-Mer,where they were dropped off on the late evening and taken care of by the shore based services.