It was a floating death-trap and, at 42ft, longer than a double-decker bus. The mammoth inflatable vessel – likely to have been cobbled together in a backstreet workshop in China – carried a scarcely believable 165 migrants towards Britain’s shores.When shocking images of this ‘mega dinghy’ on the water emerged last week, it was a chilling indicator of the utter contempt people traffickers show for human life.And for the Labour Government, these giant galleys are a stark testament to the insoluble problem of Channel ‘small boats’.Last Thursday’s extraordinary scenes led to a teenager who allegedly piloted the record-breaking dinghy appearing in court charged with endangering lives.Chan Mathok Atak, 19, from Sudan, made an initial appearance before Margate magistrates’ court, where prosecutor Lucie Fish said the boat was poor quality, overcrowded and ‘appeared to be deflating upon interception’.In 2018 – the year the Channel crisis began – the average number of migrants on each dinghy was less than seven.By 2022, the record year for arrivals, the average number per boat had risen to 41. Now it stands at just under 66.The all-time record for the number of migrants in one dinghy has already been topped twice this month.It rose from 125, set last September, to 128 on July 10, and then that record was smashed by last week’s mega-dinghy with 165 aboard.But what has prompted the traffickers’ boats to swell to such a remarkable size? At 42ft, longer than a double-decker bus. The mammoth inflatable vessel – likely cobbled together in a backstreet workshop in China - carried a scarcely believable 165 migrants towards Britain’s shores