FRENCH WARSHIP

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62 boat people rescued from two boats

the night of Jnne 3, 2024, two migrant boats were reported in difficulty off the coast of Calais. In the middle of the night, the CROSS Gris-Nez was notified that a migrant boat had sauled from the Blériot beach. The CROSS diverted an air craft for on-site reconnaissance. At the same time, the lifeboat 'Notre Dame du Risban-SNS 077' was launched from Calais and the 'Thétis' also headed to the positon. The lifeboat crew indicated that 18 people requested assistance. They were taken on board and then dropped off at the port of Calais. The 'Thétis' was monitoring the situation on board the migrant boat. An hour later, the 36 other people still on board also requested assistance, as their engine had broken down again. They were rescued by the vessel, which headed towards Calais to drop them off at the dock. While en route, the 'Thétis' reported to the CROSS that a second boat seemed to be in difficulty off the coast of Calais. The CROSS re-engaged the 'Thétis' and deployed the 'Abeille Normandie' to come and take over. At dawn, the emergency tug arrived near this second boat and rescued eight people. The other people on board refused the assistance offered. The choice was made to let them continue on their way. The Abeille Normandie headed to the port of Boulogne, where the eight castaways were dropped off. Report with photo: https://www.premar-manche.gouv.fr/communiques-presse/operation-d-assistance-et-de-sauvetage-de-62-personnes-au-large-de-calais-62

Thémis assisted in rescue of migrants

In the morning of Jan 31, 2024, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed that several migrant boats were in difficulty in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais and deployed the 'Thémis' and the semi-rigid 'President Jacques Lebrun' from the SNSM station Boulogne-sur-Mer. The patrol boat Thémis recovered 14 people on board, who were taken to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer and taken care of by the land rescue services and the border police. Later in the morning, the CROSS Gris-Nez engaged the mine warfare experimentation vessel BEGM Thétis, of the French Navy, to assist a second boat in difficulty off the coast of Audresselles. The crew of the 'Thétis' rescued the people on board the precarious boat. While the operation was underway, the weather deteriorated with stronger winds and increasingly rough seas. The CROSS Gris-Nez then engaged the 'Abeille Normandie'. 27 people were rescued by the crew of the 'Thétis' and then taken care of by land rescue teams at the dock in Calais. At the same time, the crew of the 'Abeille Normandie' rescued 28 people and dropped them off at the quayside in Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken care of by shore based emergency services.

Mine hunter deployed to troubled migrant boat

In the night of Sep 26, 2023, the CROSS Gris-Nez was informed that a boat of migrants had set sail in Authie Bay. It then deployed the 'Thétis' to check the condition of the boat. At the same time, a land gendarmerie patrol reported that the same boat had run aground and was torn apart on rocks shortly after leaving Authie Bay, in the Berck sector. The CROSS deployed the hovercraft 'Maxime Touchais', from the SNSM station at Berck-sur-Mer and a rescue and victim assistance vehicle (VSAV) of the departmental fire and rescue service to the scene of the shipwreck. The crew of the hovercraft recovered eight people on board and then the broken boat. The other 11 people were recovered and taken care of ashore by the police and firefighters. All castaways were taken care of by the emergency services. The state of health of three of them, showing signs of hypothermia, required medical assistance from the VSAV.