Friday and Saturday were two very busy days for sea rescues in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais. In all, more than 140 migrants were rescued as they attempted to reach Great Britain aboard unsuitable boats.
It was in the night between Friday and Saturday that an important deployment of air and water resources was able to prevent a new tragedy from mourning the Strait of Pas-de-Calais. A boat had been reported in distress and the Cross Gris Nez sent the speedboat “Notre-Dame-des-Flandres” of the Dunkirk marine rescuers to the scene.
Their boat is sinking
In the area the crew noticed that the vessel in distress was sinking and that several passengers were at sea, reinforcements were needed and, with the help of a Belgian police vessel, the 40 survivors were recovered and brought to port of Dunkirk.
On Saturday morning, two more rescue operations will recover another 102 migrants who were attempting to cross. The first concerns 52 people rescued by the French Navy’s mine warfare experimental ship Thetis. In the second, it was the coast guard patrol boat that rescued a boat carrying 50 migrants.
