A 19-year-old pilot has pleaded guilty to endangering others during a perilous sea crossing after steering a dinghy that carried a then-record 165 migrants across the English Channel to the United Kingdom.
Chan Mathok Atak, who is from South Sudan, entered his guilty plea at Canterbury Crown Court on charges related to the July 23 crossing. Prosecutors stated that Atak created a risk of death or serious personal injury to those on board the boat. The endangerment at sea offense is a recent legal creation aimed at individuals accused of piloting small boats across the Channel.
Rescuers described the scene as astonishing and alarming, noting the sheer number of people packed onto the dinghy, which was reportedly about the length of a bus before it began to deflate in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
At the time of the incident, the dinghy set a record for the highest number of individuals transported in a single boat since migrant dinghy arrivals began on the south coast in recent years. This figure has since been surpassed, with a record 230 people reaching the UK earlier this month in what was described as a "mega dinghy."
Atak is scheduled to be sentenced on September 11.