Daily Mail Investigation: Giant Dinghies in the English Channel, Traffickers Make Millions from Each Journey

Networks organizing migrant crossings to the United Kingdom are using increasingly larger dinghies. This brings them higher revenues but exposes passengers to even more serious risks.

Official data published by the Daily Mail show that, from August 8 to 10, 911 illegal migrants crossed the English Channel in 10 dinghies. Based on a payment of around £2,000 per person, the traffickers are suspected of making more than £1.8 million.

A new record was also set during those three days: 230 people, including a baby, traveled in a dinghy around 15 meters long. It was approximately two meters longer than any vessel previously recorded on crossings to Britain.

Photographs released by French rescue teams showed that the dinghy had become deformed under the weight of the passengers. People were packed tightly into a confined space and, in some cases, their legs were hanging over the sides into the water.

A French Navy vessel took aboard two people who asked for help and brought them to Calais. The dinghy, however, continued toward Britain, even though French teams warned that the situation could lead to a tragedy.

Low-cost dinghies and high profits

According to the report, the large vessels manufactured in China can be purchased by traffickers for relatively small sums, particularly compared with the revenue they generate by transporting migrants.

A 49-foot dinghy, similar to the one carrying 230 people, had been listed for sale online for around £1,416. If filled with 230 passengers, the cost of the vessel would amount to only around £6 per person.

To pilot such dinghies, traffickers also use young people or teenagers, promising them free or discounted passage. Some pilots have said they were forced to take on the role after being threatened.

British authorities estimate that a migrant entering the country in this way can cost taxpayers up to £450,000 a year. According to calculations reported by the Daily Mail, the potential cost of the 911 people who arrived during those three days could reach around £410 million.

Successive records in the English Channel

The capacity of the dinghies used for these crossings has increased significantly over the years. In 2018, when such crossings first began to be recorded, one of the first dinghies to reach Britain carried only seven people.

Last year, a dinghy carried an average of around 62 people. This year, however, the numbers have been much higher.

In mid-July, a dinghy carried 128 people across the Channel, surpassing the previous record of 125 people set in September 2025. Just a few days later, on July 24, 165 migrants reached Britain in another large dinghy.

Traffickers prefer larger vessels because they allow them to carry more people on fewer journeys and, in their assessment, reduce the risk of detection by the authorities.

Purpose-built vessels and an international supply chain

An international production and supply market has developed around cheap dinghies, with China at its center. The port areas of Weihai and Qingdao have become key hubs for the manufacture of these vessels.

Some are built with the aim of carrying large numbers of passengers, despite the risk. Dinghies around 12 meters long, with wooden floors and outboard motors, have been found on online platforms selling for thousands of pounds.

In the past, some listings described these vessels as “refugee boats” or “migrant boats.” Following complaints, online platforms promised to remove these descriptions, but similar dinghies continue to be marketed for stated commercial purposes.

In July last year, the British government imposed financial sanctions on a company based in Weihai over suspicions that it had sold such vessels to networks trafficking migrants across the English Channel.

Equipment routed through several European countries

Investigations show that the equipment needed for the dinghies moves through a chain beginning in China and continuing through Turkey, the Balkans, Germany, Belgium and then France.

Vessel components, engines and pumps are shipped separately and assembled at different locations. When folded, such dinghies can be transported in vans, making it easier to deliver them to the French coast.

Once they reach coastal areas, they are inflated and launched into the sea. Migrants wait in areas near the beaches and enter the water to board the dinghies.

In some cases, women and children are deliberately placed on board, while most passengers are adult men.

The risk of tragedy

A fisherman with around 20 years of experience in the waters near Dover and Folkestone said crossings of the English Channel have become much more dangerous.

He explained that while only a few people used to travel in a dinghy, today the number can reach into the hundreds. According to him, these vessels are fragile and are not built to carry such a large number of passengers.

Concerns intensified after a dinghy carrying 173 people caught fire in the middle of the English Channel.

British operations against traffickers

Britain’s National Crime Agency, the NCA, says it is carrying out operations against trafficking networks both in Britain and in several European countries.

Just one month ago, authorities seized 25 large dinghies and 25 outboard motors. The equipment was suspected of being intended to transport around 2,000 migrants to Britain.

The seizure was made at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk, while the vessels were believed to be destined for Germany. Authorities described the operation as one of the largest seizures of its kind in Britain.

The NCA says that since 2023 it has confiscated more than 1,500 dinghies and engines and has also carried out operations targeting members of criminal groups in Britain and other European countries.

British authorities warn that these vessels are unsuitable for navigation on the open sea and that traffickers are putting profit above people’s safety.

The British government has meanwhile signed a new security agreement with France. Under the agreement, £662 million will be spent over three years on efforts to combat trafficking in the English Channel.

The British opposition has criticized the agreement and the government’s policies, saying that the measures taken so far have failed to curb the rise in dinghy crossings.

Data reported in Britain show that more than 200,000 migrants have entered the country across the English Channel since 2018, when these crossings first began to be recorded.