Home Office chiefs are spending £1.2million a year to hire boats as the Channel migrant crisis continues

By SAM GREEHILL, CHIEF REPORTER Published: 23:11, 28 May 2026 | Updated: 23:14, 28 May 2026 Desperate Home Office chiefs are spending millions on new boats and repairs to its existing fleet as the English Channel migrant crisis is set to continue for years. They are paying £1.259million to rent the crewed rigid hull inflatable boats (RIBs) for a year, with the option to extend for a further 24 months. The deal includes accommodation and food for crews who will man the vessels in round-the-clock eight-hour shifts. They have also signed a £1.6million three-year deal to repair other RIBs and tactical boats already in operation. And last month the Government hired four catamarans at a cost of £30million over three years to pick up stranded migrants from flimsy boats as they try to reach the UK from France. The new RIBs are to support the larger catamarans as the improved weather sees the number of crossings increase, with almost 1,000 migrants arriving from France over the bank holiday weekend. Details of the new RIB deal for the Home Office’s Border Security Command show the function of the vessels is to ensure anyone who enters the water is recovered. The Home Office is spending £1.259million to rent the crewed rigid hull inflatable boats (RIBs) for a year, with the option to extend for a further 24 months Almost 1,000 migrants came over from France on small boats during the bank holiday weekend Contract details reveal the 8.5m crafts must have capacity to carry at least 20 ‘recovered casualties’ to be transferred to larger search and rescue boats, but on occasions return them to land. Another function is to track migrant vessels if they refuse to stop, and they need to be able to maintain a steady 20 knots speed with the capability of hitting 40 knots in short bursts. A section on procedures under the heading ‘Saving of Life and Salvage’ is completely redacted, as are three pages giving specifications of the vessels. The four new catamarans – BSC Enterprise, BSC Contender, BSC Courageous and BSC Intrepid – are said to be more modern than their predecessors and provide more space for migrants. Home Office officials claim the upgraded 79ft by 29ft vessels are better value for money, with each able to carry up to 80 migrants. This month the number arriving illegally in the UK via the treacherous Channel route hit 200,000 since the crisis began eight years ago. Keir Starmer has promised to end the trade and vowed to ‘smash the gangs’ which aid the crossings.  But so far he has had little impact, with only 7,612 migrants being deported. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. The RIBs have been hired from Boatserv, which uses them to help with underwater cable laying. The separate deal for repairs will see £1.4million spent on existing RIBs used by Border Force. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.