Marine Accident Investigation Branch report on the investigation into the flooding and partial sinking of an inflatable migrant boat resulting in the loss of at least 27 lives in the Dover Strait on 24 November 2021
Summary:
During the early hours of the morning on 24 November 2021 an inflatable boat with around 33 people on board became flooded and partially sank in the Dover Strait as the occupants were attempting to cross from France to the United Kingdom. As a result of the flooding the occupants of the boat entered the water and at least 27 people lost their lives. There were two survivors and four people remain missing. The victims’ bodies and the two survivors were recovered later that day in French waters. The time and location of the partial sinking and the exact number of people on board are unknown. The MAIB investigation was not granted access to any information held by French authorities and has necessarily focused on the United Kingdom’s emergency response.
The key safety issues identified were:
- The inflatable boat was wholly unsuitable and ill-equipped for the crossing attempt and the occupants’ only method of raising the alarm was via mobile telephone.
- The effectiveness of the United Kingdom’s search and rescue response was hampered due to poor visibility and the lack of dedicated aerial surveillance of the Dover Strait.
- With multiple boats attempting to cross the Dover Strait and each boat making multiple calls indicating distress it was extremely challenging for HM Coastguard to locate and identify discrete boats and to understand exactly how many were attempting the crossing.
- At the time of the accident a number of HMCG capacity enhancements had been identified but they were not yet in place to support the United Kingdom’s emergency response.
Safety recommendations:
- The Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Border Force have been recommended to develop procedures to ensure effective surveillance is possible when aviation assets are unavailable.
- The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has also been recommended to work with French authorities to develop agreed modalities for improving the transfer of information between the UK and French Coastguard agencies pertaining to migrant boats during crossing events
Andrew Moll, Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents said:
“This was a tragic accident in which many lives were lost. Our investigation has closely examined the events on the night to understand, as best we can, what went wrong so lessons can be learned to ensure a dreadful night like this is not repeated.
“The events of 24 November 2021 were complex with multiple inflatable boats that were unsuitable and ill-equipped for the journey attempting to cross the Dover Strait to England. The occupants were not trained mariners and their only means of calling for help was by mobile phone. Many boats made multiple distress calls and without dedicated aerial surveillance over the Strait it was extremely challenging for the coastguard to understand how many boats were attempting the crossing, their locations and their actual levels of distress. During the early hours of the morning an inflatable boat with around 33 people on board became flooded and partially sank so its occupants entered the water. Although there was an immediate search and rescue response it took time for the first rescue craft to arrive on scene where, despite poor visibility, a number of migrant boats were found. In spite of the best efforts of those involved, as the pace of dealing with located migrant boats increased the plight of the stricken craft became masked and, sadly, the victims were not found until spotted by a passing fishing vessel later that day.
“In November 2021, the UK’s response to the migrant crisis was still evolving and although the need for enhancements had been identified remedial action was still in hand. The report acknowledges that significant changes have been made since the accident. However, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Border Force are recommended to develop procedures to ensure effective surveillance of the Dover Strait is possible when aviation assets are unavailable. A recommendation is also made to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to work with French authorities to improve the transfer of information between UK and French Coastguard agencies during migrant crossing events.”
