Border Control

DavidofMersea

DavidofMersea

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This morning a great ship, which looked like an old minesweeper, went up and down the Blackwater. It was marked "Border Control", does anybody know what they were doing? I can't believe they were looking for illegal immigrants in the Blackwater with a ship that size, you could see it from miles away
 
DavidofMersea said:
This morning a great ship, which looked like an old minesweeper, went up and down the Blackwater. It was marked "Border Control", does anybody know what they were doing? I can't believe they were looking for illegal immigrants in the Blackwater with a ship that size, you could see it from miles away
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It's a show of force, to try to persuade the great British population that they're actually doing something to protect us. You see a similar demonstration when you fly in to Stansted after a trip abroad and are forced to queue for an hour or more to get through our "Border Control" which seems to be staffed mainly by Indians.
 
Often seen one in the Thames Estuary. There are several I believe around the coast and carry a fast rib for boarding. We met one in the Needles channel on the way back from Falmouth, travelling in the opposite direction. It slowed right down and someone appeared from the bridge and had a good look at us with binoculars for several minutes. We were expecting to see the rib slide out of the transom, but obviously didn't look suspicious enough. All of a sudden thick black smoke bellowed from the exhaust and it disappeared off to the west at quite a speed. I think boardings are quite common along the South Coast.
 
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DavidofMersea said:
This morning a great ship, which looked like an old minesweeper, went up and down the Blackwater. It was marked "Border Control", does anybody know what they were doing? I can't believe they were looking for illegal immigrants in the Blackwater with a ship that size, you could see it from miles away
Click to expand...

200px-P19_HMRC_Seeker_Portsmouth_Harbour.jpg


The UK Border Force has 5 Cutters plus one chartered vessel, the MV VOS GRACE, to cover the enter UK Coastline..... At least one, maybe two, of which are in the Aegean Sea supporting the EU Frontex Search and Rescue operations. To see one should be, then, as rare as the proverbial Rocking Horse Pooo....
 
Boz said:


200px-P19_HMRC_Seeker_Portsmouth_Harbour.jpg


The UK Border Force has 5 Cutters plus one chartered vessel, the MV VOS GRACE, to cover the enter UK Coastline..... At least one, maybe two, of which are in the Aegean Sea supporting the EU Frontex Search and Rescue operations. To see one should be, then, as rare as the proverbial Rocking Horse Pooo....
Click to expand...

Although, the Seeker, and Vigilant have both been up the Orwell recently, one of them twice. 3 visits all told in the last two months. I'd say theyve stepped up patrols as the immigration issue spreads up the European coast.
 
I was stopped last year just before Dungeness when I was returning from the Atlantic. All in all it was a very pleasant experience. I was worried that I might have bought too much wine from the Azores, but they kept telling me that they weren't worried about that. Their main interest was in who was on board [just me] and whether I had any weapons. They did get very excited when looking at my passport they realised I had been to Brazil and South Africa and they took a very close look at my water tank as I said I had been into Brazil for water.
I thought they did it very well and it made me think that anyone trying to bring in illegals should think again. Very courteous to me and called me Captain which I always like.
 
T'other year, we encountered the cutter Vigilant zooming up and down the coast between the Deben and Southwold (several times, almost made me wish for a planing mobo!) the other year and then met their RIB zooming down the Deben itself on our way upriver - they gave us a friendly wave as they went by!
 
FulmarJeddo said:
Often seen one in the Thames Estuary. There are several I believe around the coast and carry a fast rib for boarding. We met one in the Needles channel on the way back from Falmouth, travelling in the opposite direction. It slowed right down and someone appeared from the bridge and had a good look at us with binoculars for several minutes. We were expecting to see the rib slide out of the transom, but obviously didn't look suspicious enough. All of a sudden thick black smoke bellowed from the exhaust and it disappeared off to the west at quite a speed. I think boardings are quite common along the South Coast.
Click to expand...

I got boarded some years ago, whilst on a school boat at lunch anchor in Newtown Creek. Right load of heavies, demanding who we were, what we were doing, where were we from. Didn't introduce themselves first, no ID, just made demands. Got quite nasty, when I asked "who the F wants to know".
Boarded by Spanish maritime officials in one of the riasnear La Coruna & exceptional gentlemen behaviour.
 
When we set off in 2012, We crossed the Foulness Sands and headed for the top of Margate.. (HW) .. As we crossed the Knock John we saw them comming out the Swale.. We were obvioulsy in a convergence course somewhere near North Foreland. We turned South at N Foreland and they decided to board us just off Broadstairs and ask questions like... where have you come from?
 
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