The chair of an inquiry into the deadliest Channel disaster for more than 40 years has warned that he expects “full cooperation” and no “foot-dragging” from authorities and individuals as he investigates events leading to at least 27 deaths.
In an opening statement, Sir Ross Cranston said the inquiry would examine the events of 24 November 2021 and initially attempt to establish who the deceased were and when, where and in what circumstances they died before attempting to establish what further lessons could be learned.
The Cranston inquiry was announced in November after an official report found that rescue attempts were compromised by confusion, lack of resources and poor communication between the UK and France.
“That evening, an inflatable craft carrying men, women and children, attempted to make the crossing. It appears that there were at least 30 individuals onboard. However, the boat, which seems to have been wholly unsuited to the planned voyage, took on water and was swamped. Although, remarkably, there were two survivors, at least 27 people lost their lives. It was and remains the single greatest loss of life occasioned by any of the small boat crossings,” said Cranston.
“I hope and expect to receive full cooperation from all of those involved in our work. There will be no place for, nor tolerance of, obstruction or foot-dragging on the part of those whose involvement in the events of 24 November 2021 will be scrutinised. This is of vital importance.”
Phillippa Kaufmann KC, for two of the survivors of the tragedy and the families of 20 of the victims, said: “Our clients wholeheartedly welcome the opening of this inquiry, which is something they fought hard to establish.
“Our clients have high hopes because they think that it is going to establish the truth as to what happened and how it is that such a significant loss of life occurred.
“They hope that in so far as they have been failed by any authority tasked with planning, search and rescue operations that night in the Channel, that those will be identified and explained.”
A failed operation to reach a stricken dinghy on 24 November 2021 identified the wrong boat, November’s report said. A Border Force cutter rescued 98 people in three other boats that night, but not those on the dinghy carrying the 27 who died.
The 112-page report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), part of the Department for Transport (DfT), stated that its role was not to apportion blame. It identifies various problems that hindered the rescue operation, including poor visibility, a lack of a dedicated aircraft conducting aerial surveillance, and a shortage of staff in the control room at Dover processing SOS calls from small boats in distress.
The large number of boats crossing that night added to the confusion, with HM Coastguard recording 99 incidents on 24 November 2021 and 757 people making the crossing.
The report was critical of the people smugglers for sending such a vessel across the Channel, describing it as “wholly unsuitable and ill-equipped”. It also accused people onboard the boats more generally of sometimes making emergency calls that rescuers found did not reflect the actual situation when they reached them.
