Migrant Dinghy Nearly Engulfed By Giant 300 Metre Container Ship

This is the moment a tiny plastic boat carrying 11 migrants passes perilously close to a huge cargo ship near British waters in the Strait of Gibraltar.

The startling scene was recorded by a helicopter from the Air Service of the Spanish Civil Guard in the Strait of Gibraltar off the coast of southern Spain.

Local media report the helicopter crew had tried to warn the crew on board the cargo ship of the migrant boat’s presence but they could not make contact.

The helicopter then began flashing lights at the cargo ship and the captain managed to change the vessel’s route at the last minute to avoid a collision, according to reports.

In the video, the tiny boat, reportedly carrying 11 migrants towards the Spanish coast, can be seen passing metres away from a 316-metre (1,036-foot) cargo ship.

Reports state the migrants’ boat was slowly sinking when the helicopter crew spotted it and those on board were waving for help.

The eleven people on board the smaller ship were reportedly rescued by the Marine Service of the Civil Guard and taken to the port of Algeciras, in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia.

 

Fifty nine migrants have died trying to reach the Spanish coast, according to figures from the International Organisation for Migration. Fifty three of them went missing last week, according to the organisation Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders).

The Strait of Gibraltar separates the British overseas territory of Gibraltar and peninsular Spain from Morocco.

Spanish officials have reportedly asked that the country’s claim over Gibraltar and their dispute with the UK over its sovereignty be recognised by the European Union (EU) in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

Nearly ninety six percent of residents of Gibraltar voted for the UK to remain part of the EU in the 2016 referendum.