A French warship forced a cross-Channel ferry to divert routes on Easter Sunday to escort two migrant boats to the UK, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The P&O ferry Spirit of Britain was ordered to make the detour so that the naval vessel could hand over 90 migrants to the Border Force craft Typhoon waiting to take them to Dover.
The controversial maneuver, which delayed the ferry’s journey, happened at 10:27 a.m. in thick fog.
In the message to the P&O ferry, the warship’s female officer says in stilted English, “I am currently three nautical miles ahead of you. About to launch with two small migrant craft and Border Force Typhoon. Is it possible for you to take a spacious berth on the port side?’
The Spirit of Britain officer responds by correcting her estimated distance between the ships by saying it is five nautical miles. He adds: ‘Unfortunately, due to shipping traffic, we cannot come to the port when visibility is limited. So, we’re changing course to starboard.’
The P&O ferry Spirit of Britain (pictured in 2022) was ordered to make the detour so the naval vessel could hand over 90 migrants to the Border Force vessel Typhoon waiting to take them to Dover
Charts show the ferry changing route to the right before returning to its course and entering Calais.
The French man-of-war continues to steam, escorting the migrant boats to the border of French and English waters where Typhoon took them on board and to Dover just after 11am.
A private shipping company, commissioned by the government, collected the abandoned migrant boats from the same spot and brought them to Kent later in the morning.
Maps reveal that the warship, the A602, had been engaged in search and rescue operations since 05:31 on Sunday to find migrant boats leaving the coast near the port of Gravelines.
But instead of sending the overcrowded dinghies back to France, the warship can be seen escorting them to Britain.
Irregular course in shipping lanes
Ship tracking websites show the warship and Typhoon liaising mid-Channel for the handover. The UK Coast Guard, based in Kent, was heard on several public radio stations on Sunday morning by fishermen inquiring about the progress of the transfer and the altered Spirit of Britain route.
Fishermen said the incident, which took place on the world’s busiest shipping lane, was a “dangerous operation that could have cost the lives of migrants and seamen.”
A fishing boat skipper said: ‘Visibility was down to 100 meters because of the heavy fog. The French man-of-war made an erratic course through the shipping lane after telling the ferry to get out of the way.
“The sole purpose of the operation seemed to be to get the two migrant boats out of French waters and hand them over to the British as quickly as possible.” A trawler skipper told the Mail from the Channel: “This operation should not have taken place in the foggy conditions.”
In the message to the P&O ferry, the warship’s female officer says in stilted English, “I am currently three nautical miles ahead of you. About to launch with two small migrant craft and Border Force Typhoon. Is it possible for you to take a spacious berth on the port side?’
The French warship continues to steam, escorting the migrant boats to the border of French and English waters where Typhoon (pictured in 2022) took them on board and continued to Dover just after 11am
The number of migrants (pictured last year on an inflatable craft) reaching Britain has risen in a period of calm, if foggy, weather
The skipper added: “The migrant boats should have been stopped by the French navy from leaving France in such bad weather. The enthusiasm for search and rescue operations by the French, even in very poor sea visibility, is extraordinary.
“They seem to ‘graze’ the waters of Calais and Dunkirk until they find a migrant boat and then escort it straight to the UK.”
The number of migrants reaching Britain has risen in a period of calm, if foggy, weather. In the week to Monday, traffickers dispatched more than 1,000, including 180 in four boats on Easter Sunday — two of which were escorted by the French man-of-war. The Home Office, under pressure to remove 51,000 boat migrants from 400 British hotels, is trying to find accommodation for the endless arrivals.
It has proposed sites for 5,406, including a ship in Dorset, RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, a Ministry of Defense site in Essex and a former prison in East Sussex.
The UK has agreed to pay £480 million over three years to bolster the French’s measures to stop crossings.
A new detention center is being built near Calais and there are more beach patrols.
But despite a special summit between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Emmanuel Macron, there is no agreement to return migrants to France. The Interior Ministry was approached for comment.
