An Albanian crossing by boat illegally from France to the United Kingdom attempted a distress call to the port of Dover but reached and was helped by police in Dover, Delaware, 3,500 miles away instead. On August 27, the Dover Police Department in Delaware received a distress call that led to an unexpected international rescue operation.
The caller reported that his ship was sinking. However, the emergency was happening in the English Channel, more than 3,500 miles away from Delaware’s capital. The Albanian illegal, seeking urgent help for his brother’s sinking vessel, mistakenly contacted the wrong Dover. Despite the significant geographic error, Communications Operator MacKenzie Atkinson noted the vessel’s coordinates and the nature of the emergency.
Within four minutes, her colleague Connor Logan established contact with the French Coast Guard, His Majesty’s Coastguards, and the United Kingdom’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s Coordination Center. Eventually, the call successfully reached the appropriate emergency services in Dover, England.
On September 5, the UK’s Coordination Center confirmed that the vessel was located, and all aboard were picked up.
“The caller had conducted an internet search for the ‘Dover Police Department,’ and the first result was the Dover, Delaware Police Department. The family member believed they were contacting Dover, England, but reached our agency in the United States,” Delaware police said.
While it is unknown if the caller is involved in human trafficking, many Albanian nationals have been linked to the criminal activity in the English Channel as recently as July, when a smuggler was sentenced to nine years in prison for helping hundreds of migrants reach the UK illegally. Albanian drug gangs have also been found paying for the passage of illegals to recruit them as drug dealers once they reach Britain.
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