The Home Office is spending £2 million of taxpayers’ money a year on private vessels that are deployed to pick up empty migrant dinghies in the Channel, The Times can reveal.
They are sent out on rescue missions with the sole task of collecting the abandoned small boats once the migrants have been safely transferred onto a Border Force or RNLI vessel.
Two vessels, MCS Taku and MCS Blue Norther, are deployed by the Home Office and are based in Dover.
A contract seen by The Times reveals that the Home Office pays £577,000 every three months to Maritime Craft Services for use of two of their vessels for the recovery of migrant boats in the Channel.
This was branded “a total waste of money” last night and concerns were also raised about the unnecessary pollution and traffic it is adding to the Channel.
The company is based in the west of Scotland. Charter businesses in Kent questioned why the government had not reached out to local vessels that would provide the service far more cheaply.
Border Force boats previously towed the empty dinghies before the contract was signed this year with Maritime Craft Services.
It is understood part of the reason behind signing the contract was the requirement for Border Force to pay Dover Marina £200 per dinghy that it brought into the harbour, as it required an onshore crane to transfer the dinghies onto the harbourside.
The two private vessels contracted by the Home Office to collect the abandoned dinghies are usually deployed as support vessels for dredging, marine construction projects and offshore windfarms and are not required to pay the £200 toll as they have their own on-deck cranes.
The dinghies cannot be left in the Channel due to safety and littering rules.
Local fishermen said taxpayers were being ripped off and added that they could pick up the empty dinghies for a tenth of the price.
One fisherman, who asked not to be named, said: “This is a total waste of money and adds unnecessary pollution and traffic to the Channel. Why can’t they tow the dinghies behind them like they used to? Or they could save the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds by paying Kent-based vessels to pick up the empty dinghies instead, rather than chartering them from Scotland. I’d do it for £200,000 all-in.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “All Home Office commercial contracts are designed to ensure the best value for taxpayers.”
France is also deploying private vessels to help its authorities patrol and spot dinghies in its territorial waters.
However, they are ordered not to intercept the boats once they are in the water due to concerns it would contravene international maritime rules. This is because it would risk endangering the passengers, who do not wish to be rescued by French vessels and returned to France.
Instead, they are ordered to escort the dinghies towards British waters to hand the boat over to Border Force or the RNLI, who are able to intercept and transfer migrants onto their vessels in accordance with international maritime law because the passengers want to be rescued by them.
On Wednesday, The Times observed how two of the French-deployed patrol vessels operated. Esvagt Charlie, a private Danish safety vessel contracted by the French authorities, was seen escorting a migrant boat from French to British waters at about 5.20am. It alerted the French coastguard, who then informed their British counterparts.
Ranger, one of Border Force’s patrol and crew transfer vessels, was then sent out to pick up the migrants.
The Border Force vessel was seen waiting on the UK-France maritime border about 12 miles into the Channel until the French-deployed vessel had escorted the migrant boat to the meeting point.
Once the migrants had been safely transferred to Ranger and the empty dinghy picked up by MCS Taku, the Esvagt Charlie turned back into French waters to continue patrolling for more migrant boats.
A separate private vessel deployed by France, Apollo Moon, was also seen escorting migrant dinghies into British waters and handing them over to Border Force.
Border Force picked up more than 200 migrants in total on Wednesday in four dinghies, including women and children, with a woman seen holding a baby as she disembarked from Ranger in Dover. It takes the total number to have crossed in September to almost 1,800.
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The Home Office is spending £2 million of taxpayers’ money a year on private vessels that are deployed to pick up empty migrant dinghies in the Channel, The Times can reveal.
They are sent out on rescue missions with the sole task of collecting the abandoned small boats once the migrants have been safely transferred onto a Border Force or RNLI vessel.
Two vessels, MCS Taku and MCS Blue Norther, are deployed by the Home Office and are based in Dover.
A contract seen by The Times reveals that the Home Office pays £577,000 every three months to Maritime Craft Services for use of two of their vessels for the recovery of migrant boats in the Channel.
This was branded “a total waste of money” last night and concerns were also raised about the unnecessary pollution and traffic it is adding to the Channel.
The company is based in the west of Scotland. Charter businesses in Kent questioned why the government had not reached out to local vessels that would provide the service far more cheaply.
Border Force boats previously towed the empty dinghies before the contract was signed this year with Maritime Craft Services.
It is understood part of the reason behind signing the contract was the requirement for Border Force to pay Dover Marina £200 per dinghy that it brought into the harbour, as it required an onshore crane to transfer the dinghies onto the harbourside.
The two private vessels contracted by the Home Office to collect the abandoned dinghies are usually deployed as support vessels for dredging, marine construction projects and offshore windfarms and are not required to pay the £200 toll as they have their own on-deck cranes.
The dinghies cannot be left in the Channel due to safety and littering rules.
Local fishermen said taxpayers were being ripped off and added that they could pick up the empty dinghies for a tenth of the price.
One fisherman, who asked not to be named, said: “This is a total waste of money and adds unnecessary pollution and traffic to the Channel. Why can’t they tow the dinghies behind them like they used to? Or they could save the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds by paying Kent-based vessels to pick up the empty dinghies instead, rather than chartering them from Scotland. I’d do it for £200,000 all-in.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “All Home Office commercial contracts are designed to ensure the best value for taxpayers.”
France is also deploying private vessels to help its authorities patrol and spot dinghies in its territorial waters.
However, they are ordered not to intercept the boats once they are in the water due to concerns it would contravene international maritime rules. This is because it would risk endangering the passengers, who do not wish to be rescued by French vessels and returned to France.
Instead, they are ordered to escort the dinghies towards British waters to hand the boat over to Border Force or the RNLI, who are able to intercept and transfer migrants onto their vessels in accordance with international maritime law because the passengers want to be rescued by them.
On Wednesday, The Times observed how two of the French-deployed patrol vessels operated. Esvagt Charlie, a private Danish safety vessel contracted by the French authorities, was seen escorting a migrant boat from French to British waters at about 5.20am. It alerted the French coastguard, who then informed their British counterparts.
Ranger, one of Border Force’s patrol and crew transfer vessels, was then sent out to pick up the migrants.
The Border Force vessel was seen waiting on the UK-France maritime border about 12 miles into the Channel until the French-deployed vessel had escorted the migrant boat to the meeting point.
Once the migrants had been safely transferred to Ranger and the empty dinghy picked up by MCS Taku, the Esvagt Charlie turned back into French waters to continue patrolling for more migrant boats.
A separate private vessel deployed by France, Apollo Moon, was also seen escorting migrant dinghies into British waters and handing them over to Border Force.
Border Force picked up more than 200 migrants in total on Wednesday in four dinghies, including women and children, with a woman seen holding a baby as she disembarked from Ranger in Dover. It takes the total number to have crossed in September to almost 1,800.