Passed an overturned boat in the Dunkerque waiting area north of Calais this afternoon. The visibility was very poor but the Quartermaster saw something unusual with several seagulls sitting on it and we turned back and searched around for a bit until a speck became visible in the mist. Getting closer, it seemed to be a boat.
Closing right up it did indeed transpire to be an overturned boat with some damage.
The French coastguard was notified and dispatched the ETV Abeille Languedoc with an ETA of 20 minutes or so. They asked us to stay on scene and keep the boat in sight until the ETV arrived. There was a strong current setting us down onto one of the ships at anchor in the waiting area as we attempted to keep close to the boat. We stayed with it until the ETV was very close on the radar and then resumed our passage to Dunkerque.
The ETV appears out of the mist.
The ETV Abeille Languedoc rendezvousing with the overturned boat. Don't know what the outcome was, might just have been a boat that had drifted off a beach somewhere or might have been in collision in the mist and fog, who knows?
