ABEILLE NORMANDIE

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31 migrants rescued in three missions

On Aug 24, three rescue operations took place off the coast of Pas-de-Calais. On the early morning, a migrant boat was reported to the CROSS Gris Nez off the coast of Le Portel. The 'Minck' was deployed to locate the boat and discovered that it had suffered an engine failure. The crew offered assistance to the people on board, four of whom requested to be rescued. In the middle of the day, another boat was detected by the Wissant beach station. During the boarding phase, 18 people, who were in difficulty and had not managed to reach the boat, were rescued by the 'Abeille Normandie' and were disembarked at the port of Calais. On the late afternoon, the CROSS was informed by the SAMU 62 that another migrant boat was in difficulty in the Calais area. The PSP 'Pluvier' was deployed and offered assistance,. Nine people were rescued and taken on board on board. The patrol boat continued its surveillance and then disembarked the rescued people at the port of Calais. Thus a total of 31 people were rescued in the Strait of Dover.

39 migrants rescued by two ships

On the night of Aug 8, the CROSS Gris-Nez was alerted to the departure of several migrant boats on the coasts of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. First, a boat was reported departing from Gravelines in the middle of the night. The 'Abeille Normandie' was hired by CROSS to monitor the boat. Shortly after coming into contact with the boat, the 'Abeille Normandie' reported that one of the boat's inflatable tubes had deflated. 20 minutes later, several people on board the boat requested assistance. The crew of the tug launched the RIB and rescued 30 people from the boat. The remaining occupants of the boat refused the offered assistance and continued on their way. All the rescued were taken to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer. At the same time, the departure of a boat was reported in the Sainte Cécile area. The PSP 'Cormoran' was hired by the CROSS to relocate the boat. Once in the area, the crew of the 'Cormoran' reported that several people on board were requesting assistance. The crew rescued nine people. The remaining occupants of the boat refused the offered assistance and continued on their way. All those rescued were taken to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer. In total, 39 migrants were rescued during the night, using state resources at sea, coordinated by the CROSS Gris-Nez.

83 migrants rescued in numerous responses

On Aug 10, several assistance and rescue operations were conducted by the CROSS Gris-Nez to assist migrant boats. On the early morning, theCROSS was alerted that a migrant boat had suffered an engine failure in the Leffrinckoucke area and depliyed the 'Ridens' to monitor the boat. A few hours later, some migrants reported that the boat had broken down and requested assistance. The 'Ridens'rescued 59 people. Several people still on board the boat refused the assistance offered by French resources and continued on their way. The people rescued by the 'Ridens' were then dropped off at the quay in Calais. On the same morning, two people were rescued aboard two different boats following requests for assistance. The first person, rescued by the intervention, 'Abeille Normandie', was dropped off at the quayside in Calais. The other person, rescued by the 'Minck', was dropped off at Gravelines. Later, another migrant boat was reported leaving the Bay of Somme. The CROSS then engaged the patrol boat 'Entre deux baies' from the SNSM station in Fort-Mahon-Plage to monitor the boat, which then suffered an engine failure. With the support of the 'SNS-511-Sainte-Blaise' from the SNSM station in Cayeux-sur-Mer, all 22 occupants of the boat were brought ashore in Cayeux-sur-Mer to be taken care of by land-based services. A total of 83 people were rescued by the State emergency services.