FS FLAMANT

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

65 migrants rescued off Calais, a baby died

On October 17 several rescue forces intervened off the coast of Wissant, in Pas-de-Calais to assist a boat in difficulty. Among the 65 people on board, a baby lost his life. An investigation was opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor's office. On the evening, the departure of a migrant boat off the coast of Wissant was reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez, which then engaged several vessels, among them the patrol boat 'Flamant', the 'Abeille Normandie', the 'Minck', the lifeboat 'SNS 077 Notre Dame de Risban' of the SNSM of Calais, as well as the Belgian helicopter NH90, based in Coxyde in order to relocate the boat and assess the situation on site. Once on site, it was noted that the boat, heavily loadedwas is in difficulty and that some of the people were in the water. The rescue ships then launched their semi-rigid boats and started to recover the people. The 'Abeille Normandie' rescued 65 people. At the same time, searches were being conducted to look for potential castaways at sea. During these searches, the 'Minck' located and rescues an unconscious infant who was transferred aboard the 'Abeille Normandie'. He will be declared dead by the Samu's regulating doctor, contacted by the teams on site. With the shipwreck area having been fully investigated, the maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea decidedto interrupt the searches led by the CROSS. The 65 castaways and the deceased infant were dropped off at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

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.

79 people rescued in two missions

On the night of June 23, the departure of a migrant boat near Sangatte was reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez, which deployed the FS 'Flamant' to check the situation on site. Once near the boat, the patrol boat indicated that the boat had an engine failure and requestede assistance. The 'Flamant' recovered the 69 people on board, who were dropped off at the port of Calais, where they were taken care of by the rescue services. During the night, a second boat was reported to CROSS Gris-Nez, sailing in the Malo-les-Bains sector. The CROSS dep.oyed the police boat 'Oyapock' to investigate. Once in the area, the crew noticed that the boat had been heading towards the beach to take on board around 50 people, but then suffered an engine failure and went adrift. Initially, the castaways refused to be assisted and continued their drift towards the beach. After some time, a group of around ten people on board asked to be rescued by the crew of the 'Oyapock', which took them aboard. The rest of the people on board the boat managed to reach the shore by their own means. Those aboard the 'Oyapock' were dropped off at the dock at the port of Dunkirk, where they are taken care of by the rescue services.