WatchTheMed Alarm Phone Investigations – 15th of October 2018
Case name: 2018_10_15-CM139
Situation: 25 people in distress off the coast of Libya
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Monday, the 15th of October 2018, at 3.25pm, the Alarm Phone was informed by a contact person about a boat that had left Tobruk/Libya the day before, leaving relatives worried. We learned via the brother of one of the travellers that it was a wooden boat carrying 25 people, which had left the evening before at around 9 or 10pm local time. We tried to reach the boat but were unable to get through. After collecting more information, we contacted MRCC Rome at 6.03pm and informed them about the situation. Later in the evening, we learned about a rescue operation off the coast of Libya and were trying to verify whether this had concerned the boat in question. The next day, the brother of one of the travellers stated that his brother and the others may have been rescued to Malta. We spoke to MRCC Rome at 10.10am and they confirmed that a SAR operation by the merchant vessel JUST FITZ III had taken place, coordinated by the Maltese authorities, and suggested that it was likely to be the boat in question. We spoke to RCC Malta several times but could not verify beyond any doubt that this was the boat in question. On the 17th of October, at 9.38pm, we finally received the confirmation from one of our contact persons that the people had indeed safely reached Malta.