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94 migrants rescued off Pas-de-Calais
During the night of Dec 13, numerous departures of migrant boats were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez off the coast of Pas-de-Calais. In the middle of the night, a migrant boat near Calais reported itself in difficulty to the CROSS, which engaged the 'Jacques Oudart Fourmentin', which was located nearby, to assist, along with the 'Minck', the lifeboat 'SNS 077-Notre Dame de Risban' from the SNSM station in Calais, and a Dauphin helicopter from the French Navy, Tthe CROSS Gris-Nez also notified a plane chartered by the State "Action Air Environnement", which was in the area, to monitor the situation. Once on site, the resources noted that the boat was sinking and that some of its occupants were in the water. All the resources immediately put their semi-rigid boats in the water and started to recover the people. The Dauphin helicopter dropped off buoyancy aids. The all-weather boat 'Notre Dame de Risban' and the helicopter Dauphin then investigated the area of the shipwreck, based on drift calculations, to look for any isolated castaways not yet recovered and to ensure that there is no one at sea. After the area was fully investigated for several hours, the maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea decided to stop the search, shortly after 4 a.m. LT. 72 castaways were rescued and then dropped off at the Paul Devot quay in Calais, where they were taken care of by the land rescue services, including a medical team, and the border police. During the sinking, 16 people who had returned to the beach by their own means, were also rescued directly on land by the rescue and security forces. On the morning, the CROSS Gris-Nez deployed the 'Abeille Normandie' to locate another boat with migrants in the Blériot-Plage sector. The tug crew closely monitored the boat for several hours and notified the CROSS of its entry into the traffic separation scheme of Pas-de-Calais. The CROSS then warned merchant ships transiting the TSS of the presence of the precarious boat by VHF. Following signs of panic, the CROSS asked the tug to launch its two operational drome boats (EDO) which contacted the boat. Six migrants requesting assistance were then picked up by the 'Abeille Normandie' and were dropped off at the Paul Devot quay in Calais, where they were taken care of by the land authorities. In total, 94 people were rescued by the resources deployed by the CROSS Gris-Nez.
Patrol vessel escorted migrant boat in Wimereux area
On Dec 4, numerous departures of migrant boats were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez off the coast of Pas-de-Calais. One boat was spotted in the Wissant Bay area thanks to the CROSS surveillance camera. As the boat was in difficulty when crossing a sandbank, the CROSS engaged the semi-rigid of the 'Abeille Normandie' to assess the situation in the area. The migrants requested assistance, and the CROSS mobilized land and nautical resources from the firefighters of the departmental fire and rescue operational center, the semi-rigid 'Ouranos' of the National Gendarmerie as well as the 'Abeille Normandie' and its second semi-rigid. All 80 people were transferred on board the 'Abeille Normandie'. At the same time, the CROSS engaged the coastal surveillance vessel 'Yser' to monitor another boat in the Wimereux area. Among the people on board, five requested assistance and were picked up. The other people continued their journey. The 'Abeille Normandie', which had just taken charge of the migrants of the first boat, contacted the 'Yser' and picked up the five additional people. The CROSS then deployed the 'Jacques Oudart Fourmentin' to take over the surveillance of the boat until it entered the British zone of responsibility. A total of 85 people were brought back to the quay in Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken care of by the land rescue services and the border police.
20 migrants rescued off Berck-sur-mer
On the early morning of Sep 16, the CROSS Griz-Nez was informed via the emergency medical aid service (SAMU) 62 of the presence of a migrant boat in the Berck-sur-mer sector. The CROSS deployed the 'Jacques Oudart Fourmentin' to locate and monitor the boat. After several hours of navigation, some people on the boat requested assistance from the patrol vessel, which then rescued 20 people, The other migrants were wishing to continue. Given the risks of falling overboard or injury incurred by the people in the event of forced intervention, the decision was made to let them continue their journey. The others were dropped off at the quay of the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
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