A fleet of 66 vessels set sail from Ramsgate, Kent, for Dunkirk to mark the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo. The crossing was meant to be a “poignant tribute” to the civilians’ role in rescuing Allied troops in 1940 and involved escort by the Royal Navy and the RNLI.

During the voyage, the flotilla was ordered to alter its course to create a one-nautical-mile exclusion zone around a migrant boat. Marine traffic accounts described a French warship nearby with a migrant craft, and the ships were told they needed to give that spacing “over.” As a result, the commemorative fleet had to divert and take a longer, less direct route.

The diversion came alongside a separate incident in which two migrants died after becoming unconscious on a boat carrying nearly 80 people. France’s coastguard said the rescue operation began once the pair were found unconscious; first aid was provided onboard, but a medical team later confirmed their deaths. The rescued individuals were taken to Calais, while the remainder continued toward UK waters under French navy surveillance.

The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS) said it would continue the commemoration and preserve the legacy of the original “little ships,” which were volunteered or requisitioned for the evacuation.