French Tug Abeille Liberté Escorts 60+ Migrants Across Channel Before RNLI Intercepts

A 12-metre inflatable left the Normandy coast Monday morning with more than 60 migrants aboard. It departed from near Port-en-Bessin, north of Bayeux, just before 10am, with a single outboard motor.

French rescue services were in position almost immediately. The rescue tug Abeille Liberté shadowed the dinghy alongside four French lifeboats, a French Navy H-160 helicopter and a Dragon 50 civil security aircraft as the convoy tracked slowly north through the afternoon, reaching English waters by around 3pm. Nobody intervened.

By Tuesday morning, after more than 24 hours at sea, two RNLI lifeboats were launched from UK stations to intercept. UK Border Force, operating under the Border Security Command, processed the arrivals. According to London Loves Business, riot police were also deployed to Gosport after reports suggested migrants would be landed there.

The crossing followed a tense few weeks on the south coast. Around two weeks earlier, 140 migrants rescued off Eastney beach near Portsmouth drew far-right protesters to the city seafront. Not long after, RNLI volunteers had their names shared online and were branded traitors after a Channel rescue off the Isle of Wight.