UK Marine Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published an investigation report about an incident that occurred on 24 November 2021, into the flooding and partial sinking of an inflatable migrant boat resulting in the loss of at least 27 lives in the Dover Strait.
The incident
At about 1300 on 24 November 2021, a French registered fishing vessel reported sighting bodies in the water approximately 9 nautical miles from Calais within French waters. This triggered a French search and rescue operation, with UK support. A total of 27 bodies and two survivors were reported recovered from the sea and taken to France.
During the evening of 23 November 2021, a number of small boats carrying migrants attempted to cross the Dover Strait from France to the UK. About 33 people boarded one of the boats and, at about 2100, departed from a beach near to Dunkirk, France to attempt the crossing. About 4 hours into the journey the boat began to take on water and some of the occupants made distress calls via mobile telephone to both UK and French authorities. Despite a UK search and rescue response, including a “Mayday Relay” broadcast, and deployment of a UK Border Force cutter and a rescue helicopter, the boat was not located. At some point in the early hours of 24 November 2021, the water ingress became uncontrollable and the occupants of the boat entered the water.
Given the navigational and environmental hazards in the Dover Strait, and the number of people the boat was carrying, the inflatable boat and equipment provided by the people facilitating the crossing were entirely unsuitable. The occupants had no training or seafaring experience and so were not equipped to deal with the unfolding emergency. By providing an unsuitable craft and inadequate safety equipment for the crossing, and by crowding 33 people onto the boat, the people who facilitated the attempted crossing put the occupants of the boat at high risk of coming to harm. This risk was realised when the boat was
swamped and the occupants entered the sea, resulting in at least 27 people losing their lives.
Despite extensive requests, the investigation was not granted access to any information held by French authorities so it has not been possible to analyse the French search and rescue response to the accident, assuming they were aware of the vessel’s plight.
The investigation determined that the stricken craft was almost certainly the migrant boat designated as HM Coastguard incident Charlie (for ease of understanding the boat is hereafter referred to in this analysis as migrant boat Charlie). This was determined by comparing the mobile telephone numbers associated with those who lost their lives with the telephone numbers recorded from coastguard communications with migrant boat Charlie. Three telephone numbers (M1, M2 and M5) were established to be associated both with the victims and coastguard communications with migrant boat Charlie. Two further telephone numbers, M3 and M4, were not positively linked to any of the named victims; however, they were associated with coastguard communications with migrant boat Charlie and various interactions on the night linked them to numbers M2 and M5. In particular, telephone number M4 was relayed during the same emergency call as M5.
The flooding
The distress situation started when migrant boat Charlie, began to take on water during the crossing to the UK. Although the people on board attempted to bail the water out there came a point when the water ingress was uncontrollable and the boat was swamped. As the boat flooded it also lost inflation pressure and started to sink, resulting in the occupants entering the sea. Although the MAIB investigation did not have access to the boat involved in this accident, based on similar recovered craft it was likely of homemade type construction. The initial water ingress was described as being at the bottom of the boat and likely occurred after movement of the edge of the rigid floor against the flexible material of the sole and inflatable collar wore away the fabric and allowed water to enter. The boat was reported to be carrying around 33 people. This number of occupants overloaded the craft, causing it to sink lower in the water and likely causing some deflation of the inflatable collar.
Efforts of the people on board to pump up the collar were unsuccessful, probably because of the difficulties of operating the pump in the over-crowded and flooded boat, exacerbated by the panic exhibited by some of the occupants. It is also possible that the pumping efforts caused more air to escape from the buoyancy 63 tubes. Without a means to free the water or repair the damage to the craft, and with an increasingly deflated flotation collar, the people on board the small boat could not avoid entering the water.
Conclusions
On 24 November 2021, at least 27 people lost their lives in the Dover Strait when they entered the sea following the flooding and partial sinking of the inflatable boat in which they were attempting to travel to the UK. Only two of the boat’s occupants survived and at least four people remain missing. The cause of the initial water ingress could not be determined with the evidence available to the investigation; however, the reported construction of the boat provided by the crossing facilitators indicated that it was entirely unsuitable for the intended voyage and number of people on board. By providing an unsuitable craft and inadequate safety equipment for the crossing, and by crowding 33 people onto the boat, the people who facilitated the attempted crossing put the occupants of the boat at high risk of coming to harm. This risk was realised when the boat was swamped and the occupants entered the sea, resulting in at least 27 people losing their lives. Analysis of HM Coastguard’s mobile phone interactions indicated that the victims likely entered the water between 0312 and 0333.
Actions taken
Since the accident there have been several changes and capability developments in the response of the UK authorities to migrant small boat crossings in the Dover Strait. Many of the capability developments have their origins in decisions made before 24 November 2021; however, these were not in place at the time of the accident and are therefore described as actions taken.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has:
- Carried out an internal review of small boat incidents, including a forensic examination of the events on 24 November 2021.
- Introduced the operational performance board, presided over by the Director of HM Coastguard and supported by senior leadership from the MCA and
coastguard, to monitor coastguard standards, performance and operational risk, and address organisational concerns. - Awarded the UK Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation programme (UKSAR2G) to Bristow Helicopters Limited to deliver rotary and fixed-wing
services across the UK SRR for a period of 10 years. - Implemented Project CAESAR to provide dedicated aerial support in the Dover Strait with additional UAVs, fixed-wing aircraft and provision of livestream video footage to the operations room at MRCC Dover.
- In conjunction with the Department for Transport hosted industry-led events to discuss key safety messaging in respect of small boats crossing
Recommendations
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is recommended to:
- Build on existing liaison with French authorities to devise a tracking and identification system that, to the greatest extent possible, removes the possibility of confusion and error when compiling an overview of small boats attempting the crossing.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency and UK Border Force are recommended to:
- Develop procedures for achieving, as far as is practicable, an overview picture of migrant boat activity during periods when aerial surveillance is limited to
rotary wing aircraft or is unavailable.
