Friday and Saturday were two very busy days for the rescue at sea in the strait of Pas-de-Calais. In all, more than 140 migrants were rescued as they tried to reach the Britain aboard unsuitable boats.
It was during the night from Friday to Saturday that a major deployment of air and nautical means was able to prevent a new tragedy from mourning the Strait of Pas-de-Calais. A boat had been reported in difficulty and the Cross Gris Nez sent the speedboat “Notre-Dame-des-Flandres” from the Dunkirk sea rescuers to the scene.
Their boat is sinking
In the area, the crew noticed that the boat in difficulty was sinking and that several of its passengers were at sea. Reinforcement resources were required and, with the help of a Belgian police vessel, the 40 castaways were recovered and dropped off at the port of Dunkirk.
Saturday morning, two other rescue operations will recover 102 other migrants who were trying to cross. The first concerns 52 people saved by the French Navy’s “Thetis” mine warfare experimentation vessel. During the second, it was the coast guard patrol boat who came to the rescue of a boat with 50 migrants on board.