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146 migrants rescued in numerous operations

On the morning of 29, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed that a migrant boat was in difficulty off Petit-fort-Philippe and required assistance. The CROSS immediately engaged the coastal maritime surveillance vessel of the Oyapock gendarmerie to secure the boat. Once the VSCM was on site, the migrants on the boat were requesting emergency assistance. The crew then launched their semi-rigid boat and rescued 28 people. The rest of the people expressed their wish to continue their journey to British waters, under the surveillance of the 'Abeille Normandie', which was engaged by the CROSS to reinforce the VSCM. The 28 rescued people were then dropped off at the quay in Dunkirk and taken care of by land rescue services. At the same time, the CROSS hired the rescue vessel 'Ridens' to monitor a boat off the coast of Malo les Bains. When it arrived on site, it rescued one person who had fallen into the water and assisted 10 other passengers. The rest of the passengers expressed their wish to continue their journey to British waters. The 'Minck' hired by the CROSS to reinforce the 'Ridens' remained in the area to provide enhanced surveillance. The 11 rescued people were then dropped off at the quay in Dunkirk. On the morning of Aug 30 the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed that several boats in difficulty were in an emergency situation off the dunes of Slack, Camiers and Sainte-cécile. The CROSS engaged the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist the boat, whch was located off the dunes of Slack, before recovering 23 of its occupants. Following the first recovery, the RIAS recovered five other occupants of another boat followed by the pPSP 'Cormoran' of the French Navy. The 28 rescued people were then dropped off at the quay in Boulogne sur mer and taken care of. At the same time, the CROSS engaged the SNSM semi-rigid boat from Berck-sur-mer, the "SNS 709 - Jean Baptiste Fournier", to assist two migrants, isolated on a sandbank off Camiers. They were rescued and dropped off at the Berck-sur-mer quay- In addition to these operations, there was a recovery of 62 people by the French Navy's hydrographic vessel 'Laplace ' off Le Touquet and a recovery of 15 people by the patrol boat 'Flamant' off Equihen Plage. All the people were dropped off at the quay in Boulogne sur mer. In total, over the last 48 hours, 146 migrants were rescued by the State resources deployed in this maritime zone in addition to the 77 people already recovered by the PSP 'Cormoran' on Aug 29.

98 migrants rescued in two missions

On the morning of Aug 12, 2024, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed that several migrant boats had set sail and that some were in difficulty off the coast of Pas-de-Calais. Initially, the CROSS engaged the 'Ridens' to locate the boat and check the situation in the area. Once the 'Ridens' was on site, the people on board the boat requested assistance. The crew of the rescue vessel launched its semi-rigid boat and recovered the 66 people on board. They were then dropped off at the quay in Calais, where they were taken care of by land-based rescue services. At the same time, the Gris-Nez CROSS engaged the 'Minck' to locate a second boat. Once on site, the crew of the 'Minck' rescued 32 people on board. Several people still on board the boat refused the assistance offered by the French means and continued on their way. The people rescued by the 'Minck' were then dropped off at the quay in Calais.

68 migrants rescued in two missions

On July 20, several migrant boats in difficulty were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. During the night, the semaphore of Boulogne-sur-Mer signalled the departure of a boat from the port with many people on board. The CROSS Gris-Nez deploed the 'Abeille-Normandie' to check the situation in the area. On scene, the crew launched their light intervention equipment which rescued two people on board who requested assistance. The 'Abeille-Normandie' resumed its surveillance mission and indicated that other people still on board the boat were not requesting assistance. The two rescued were dropped off at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer and taken care of by the land emergency services and the border police. In the middle of the night, another boat departure was reported off the coast of Dunkirk. The CROSS Gris-nez initially deployed the 'Oyapock' to relocate the boat. The CROSS then engaged the rescue ship 'Ridens' to take over from the 'Oyapock' early in the morning. Once in the area, the 'Ridens' picked up 66 people requesting assistance on board. Several people still on board the boat refused the assistance offered by French means.