Deadliest Channel small boat disaster that claimed 30 lives could have been avoided, damning inquiry finds
UK’s deadliest Channel small boat disaster ‘was avoidable’, inquiry finds
- A report has found that the lives of over 30 people who drowned in a small boat crossing in the Channel in November 2021 could have been saved if the French coastguard had responded to a distress call.
- Sir Ross Cranston, who led the inquiry, concluded that failings by both UK and French authorities contributed to the scale of the deaths in the worst maritime disaster in the Channel for over 30 years.
- The French warship, the Flamant, was approximately 15 minutes away from the incident but failed to respond to a Mayday call issued by the UK coastguard, an omission now under investigation by French authorities.
- HM Coastguard mistakenly believed the stricken boat had been rescued, leading them to call off the search too early, a decision influenced by a "widely held belief" that small-boat callers exaggerated danger.
- Systemic failures within the UK coastguard, including an over-reliance on inexperienced personnel and a lack of effective supervision, also contributed to the tragedy, with crucial geolocation information from the sinking boat not being gathered.
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