News

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.

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.

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.

On Aug 11,, several assistance and rescue operations were coordinated by the CROSS Gris-Nez to assist migrant boats. On the early night, a migrant boat had stopped in the Hardelot area. The CROSS deployed the PSP 'Cormoran', which made contact and discovered that the boat had suffered engine failure. All 83 occupants quickly requested assistance. The patrol boat picked up all the passengers from the boat and dropped them off at the quay n Boulogne-sur-Mer. On the early morning, the CROSS was alerted by the border police's "Action Air Environnement" surveillance aircraft that a migrant boat was adrift in the Le Touquet area, and engaged the 'Minck' and the 'SNS 7-034-Notre Dame des Sables' from the Berck-sur-Mer SNSM station to monitor the boat. Once on site, all 22 people on board the boat requested assistance and were picked up by the 'Minck'. Near this boat another one was also in difficulty. Thus, the 'Minck' kept the 22 people on board while it monitored this other boat. 12 people on board requested assistance and were also picked up by the 'Minck', while the remaining occupants refused the offer assistance. All 34 people rescued by the Minck were dropped off in Calais. Finally, a migrant boat was reported off the coast of Merlimont-Plage. The CROSS engaged the "Notre Dame des Sables" and the patrol boat 'Maroni' to monitor the boat, which was heading towards Sainte-Cécile beach to embark more migrants. During this boarding, the 'SNS 7-034' assisted seven people who had fallen into the water, and then four more a short time later. Given the large number of people aboard the boat, the CROSS engaged the 'Abeille Normandie' to monitor the boat and stood down the SNS 7-034' and the 'Maroni'. Around midday, the occupants of the boat requested assistance from the 'Abeille Normandie', which rescued 36 people and dropped them off at the quay in Boulogne-sur-Mer. A total of 164 people were rescued by the State rescue services.

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.