ABEILLE NORMANDIE

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54 migrants rescued off Sangatte

On the aarly imorning of , June 11, 2025, the CROSS Gris-Nez was notified that a migrant boat was in difficulty off the coast of Sangatte. The 'Abeille Normandie' was deployed by CROSS to locate the boat. Once on site, the crew of the emergency tug discovered that the boat had suffered an engine failure, and rescued 50 people on board, followed shortly after by the remaining four. The 54 migrants were then dropped off at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken into care by the shore-based rescue services.

184 migrants rescued in numerous operations

During the night of May 30 and on May 31, numerous migrant boat departures were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. First, the departure of a boat was reported to the CROSS in the Fort-Mahon beach sector. The CROSS dispatched the patrol vessel 'Jeanne Barret' to locate and monitor it. Some of the occupants quickly requested to be rescued. The 'Jeanne Barret's operational rescue boat (EDO) then rescued 60 people. Several people did not wish to be rescued and remained on the precarious boat under the surveillance of the 'Jeanne Barret', which finally retrieved them a few minutes later. All 78 rescued people disembarked in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the early morning of May 31 and were taken into care by the land authorities. At the same time, the CROSS Gris-Nez also engaged the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist another migrant boat in the Wimereux beach area. The tug monitored the boat until its engine failed, forcing all the migrants to request assistance, and recovered 61 migrants before being deployed on two other boat monitoring operations. In the absence of a request for assistance from them, the 'Abeille Normandie' was able to sail to Boulogne-sur-Mer to drop off the migrants. At the same time, the Dunkirk signal (59) reported another departure from the port. The 'Oyapock', already in the area monitoring another boat, noticed it was a taxi boat picking up more migrants on the beach at Grand-Fort Philippe .Leaving the Oyapock's initial surveillance zone, the taxi boat was relocated by the S-100 drone deployed by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to the CROSS Gris-Nez, which also engaged the PSP 'Cormoran', which began monitoring migrant boats entering the waters of the traffic separation scheme. On the early morning of May 31, the patrol boat picked up nine migrants requesting rescue. They were disembarked in Calais n the early afternoon. At midday, the 'SNS-067 - Mona Rigolet' from the Calais SNSM station was deployed by the CROSS to assist another boat off the coast of Dunkirk. Once in the area, the lifeboat began its surveillance and then assisted 36 people, who disembarked in Calais in the early afternoon. A total of 184 people were rescued and taken into care by government resources.

62 migrants rescued, one recovered dead

On the night of May 18, the departure of a migrant boat was reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez, which deployed the 'Abeille Normandie' to monitor the boat. During the monitoring, the overloaded boat broke up. The CROSS immediately broadcast a Mayday Relay message, and the tug crew launched three speedboats to rescue the occupants. The vessel was supported by British assets: the lifeboat 'RNLI 13-07' ((MMSI: 235106574)) from Dungeness, the Border Force patrol boat 'Ranger' (MMSI: 232696000) and a British aircraft present in the area, which responded to the CROSS message. At the same time, the CROSS deployed the French Navy's Dauphin helicopter based in Le Touquet with a medical team from the SMUR maritime de Boulogne-sur-Mer pm bpard- Once on site, the Dauphin hoisted the medical team aboard the 'Abeille Normandie' and searched for any other survivors. The tug's crew rescued 50 people, the RNLI's resources rescued two people, and the 'Ranger' rescued nine people. All castaways were transferred aboard the 'Abeille Normandie'. During its search of the area, the helicopter located an unresponsive person in the water. The RNLI's resources recovered and transferred him aboard the tug, where he was treated and declared deceased by the medical team. Among those rescued were a child and his mother. who were suffering from hypothermia and medevaced by the Dauphin helicopter to Boulogne-sur-Mer hospital, where they were treated. The rescued migrants were dropped off at Boulogne-sur-Mer dock and taken into care by shore based rescue services. A total of 62 people were rescued and taken into care by government services. Two of these people were airlifted to Boulogne-sur-Mer hospital, and one person died.