Channel migrant boat carried record 230, SNSM says

A small boat carrying 230 migrants crossed the Channel to Britain, setting a record for a single vessel, France's SNSM lifeboat service and UK media said.

SNSM said the passengers, including more than 20 children, were counted aboard a rubber dinghy as it departed the northeastern French coast late Sunday. The lifeboat service called it “a new and sad record” for the number of people packed onto such boats.

The previous single-boat record was 165 people, set last month. The UK interior ministry did not confirm the exact number aboard the latest boat.

Jean-Marc Lamblin, director of the SNSM's local branch, said French lifeboats escorted the dinghy to British waters before British authorities took over. He said the rubber dinghy was about 15 metres long and that rescuers had been seeing more boats of that size in recent months.

The crossing came after a UK-bound dinghy carrying more than 150 people capsized in the Channel last week after its engine caught fire, prompting a major search-and-rescue operation.

The UK interior ministry condemned what it called “reckless and dangerous tactics” by criminal gangs facilitating the crossings. A spokesman for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said images of babies being put into unseaworthy boats showed “the reality behind the ruthless smuggling gangs”.

Britain has sought to reduce Channel crossings, including through increased cooperation with France. In April, London signed a three-year deal with Paris agreeing to pay up to €766 million to boost French law enforcement. The UK government says small-boat arrivals in the first half of 2026 were down more than 42 percent year on year to just over 14,000 people, although recent weeks have seen an increase.