ABEILLE NORMANDIE

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99 migrants rescued from various boats

On the night of June 12 and on June 13, numerous migrant boat departures were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. On the evening the CROSS was informed by the police that a migrant boat off Slack Beach was showing signs of difficulty. In coordination with land-based services, the CROSS deployed several resources, including the French Navy's Dauphin helicopter based in Le Touquet and resources from the SDIS 62 to locate and rescue the boat people. In coordination with the MRCC in Dover, a British aircraft was also diverted to participate in the search. However, once in the area, the resources did not report the presence of any boat in the water and therefore were stood down. Secondly, a floating but unpowered boat was spotted by land services off Pointe aux Oies. The CROSS engaged the 'Abeille Normandie', which confirmed the boat was adrift with three people on board. The emergeny tug rescued the migrants, who were taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer and taken into care by land-based rescue services. Later that night, a second boat requested assistance off Audresselles. The CROSS engaged the French Navy's hydrographic survey vessel 'Laplace', which joined the boat. Four of its occupants requested assistance, They were picked up and taken in Calais. The remaining migrants on the migrant boat refused any assistance and continued on their way. During the same night, another boat was reported in difficulty off the coast of Gravelines. The location of the boat, overloaded with 50 people, was located by the Schiebel S100 drone of the CROSS Gris-Nez. The latter also engaged the lifeboaat 'SNS 276 - Notre Dame des Flandres' from the Gravelines SNSM station, which rescued two people on board, while the boat continued on its way. On the morning of June 13, another boat was spotted on the beach at Quend. The CROSS engaged the surveillance vessel 'Yser' from the French Maritime Gendarmerie to locate the boat. Two people, who were found in difficulty, were rescued by the 'Yser' and brought ashore, where they were treated by the local land rescue services. The same morning, another boat was spotted off the coast of Dunkirk. The CROSS engaged the RHIB 'ESMP04' of the Maritime and Port Security Platoon of the French Maritime Gendarmerie,and then the patrol boat 'Flamant'. The troubled boat quickly took on water, and the patrol boat began assisting the occupants, joined by the rescue vessel 'Ridens' and the 'Abeille Normandie'. The 'Flamant' rescued 63 people and headed for the port of Calais. The other occupants initially did not require further assistance, as the boat continued to deflate. They were finally picked up by the 'Ridens' and the 'Abeille Normandie', which took them to the ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer), respectively. In total, 79 occupants of the boat were rescued and taken into care by land-based rescue services. Finally, on the early evening of June 13, a migrant boat was reported off the coast of Equihen-Plage. As weather conditions deteriorated, the CROSS deployed a Frontex aircraft to locate the boat, followed by the 'Flamant' and the patro l boat 'Pluvier'. After a request for assistance from the nine occupants of the boat, they were picked up by the PSP Flamant and brought to the dock in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

54 migrants rescued off Sangatte

On the aarly imorning of , June 11, 2025, the CROSS Gris-Nez was notified that a migrant boat was in difficulty off the coast of Sangatte. The 'Abeille Normandie' was deployed by CROSS to locate the boat. Once on site, the crew of the emergency tug discovered that the boat had suffered an engine failure, and rescued 50 people on board, followed shortly after by the remaining four. The 54 migrants were then dropped off at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken into care by the shore-based rescue services.

184 migrants rescued in numerous operations

During the night of May 30 and on May 31, numerous migrant boat departures were reported to the CROSS Gris-Nez. First, the departure of a boat was reported to the CROSS in the Fort-Mahon beach sector. The CROSS dispatched the patrol vessel 'Jeanne Barret' to locate and monitor it. Some of the occupants quickly requested to be rescued. The 'Jeanne Barret's operational rescue boat (EDO) then rescued 60 people. Several people did not wish to be rescued and remained on the precarious boat under the surveillance of the 'Jeanne Barret', which finally retrieved them a few minutes later. All 78 rescued people disembarked in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the early morning of May 31 and were taken into care by the land authorities. At the same time, the CROSS Gris-Nez also engaged the 'Abeille Normandie' to assist another migrant boat in the Wimereux beach area. The tug monitored the boat until its engine failed, forcing all the migrants to request assistance, and recovered 61 migrants before being deployed on two other boat monitoring operations. In the absence of a request for assistance from them, the 'Abeille Normandie' was able to sail to Boulogne-sur-Mer to drop off the migrants. At the same time, the Dunkirk signal (59) reported another departure from the port. The 'Oyapock', already in the area monitoring another boat, noticed it was a taxi boat picking up more migrants on the beach at Grand-Fort Philippe .Leaving the Oyapock's initial surveillance zone, the taxi boat was relocated by the S-100 drone deployed by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to the CROSS Gris-Nez, which also engaged the PSP 'Cormoran', which began monitoring migrant boats entering the waters of the traffic separation scheme. On the early morning of May 31, the patrol boat picked up nine migrants requesting rescue. They were disembarked in Calais n the early afternoon. At midday, the 'SNS-067 - Mona Rigolet' from the Calais SNSM station was deployed by the CROSS to assist another boat off the coast of Dunkirk. Once in the area, the lifeboat began its surveillance and then assisted 36 people, who disembarked in Calais in the early afternoon. A total of 184 people were rescued and taken into care by government resources.