12/11: Between 9-12 people missing, after boat from Algeria disappeared in the Central Med

13.11.2018 / 21:08 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 12th of November 2018
Case name: 2018_11_12CM143
Situation: Alarm Phone supporting relatives of missing people in an unsuccessful attempt to figure out what happened to 9-12 travellers.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Monday the 12th of November at 6.57pm, the Alarm Phone shift team was called by a relative, asking for help to find out what had happened to his son, who had been on a boat leaving from Algeria towards Sardinia. The boat had left from Annaba with around 11 travellers on the 8t of November, as part of a group of three boats. Following this, the Alarm Phone was contacted by several relatives informing us about missing people from this boat. Our shift teams tried to gain an understanding of the situation by calling MRCC Rome, MRCC Tunis and Algier and by collecting information from various relatives and friends of the missing people. For days we stayed in contact with the relatives and tried to support them in finding the right institutions in Sardinia and Italy, but it was not possible to obtain information about what had happened to the travellers. It is thus very likely that these travellers have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea, adding to the devastating statistics for this year.

Last update: 16:07 Dec 31, 2018

Credibility:

Border police patrols
While the exact location of patrols is of course constantly changing, this line indicates the approximate boundary routinely patrolled by border guards’ naval assets. In the open sea, it usually correspond to the outer extent of the contiguous zone, the area in which “State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws” (UNCLOS, art. 33). Data source: interviews with border police officials.
Coastal radars
Approximate radar beam range covered by coastal radars operating in the frame of national marine traffic monitoring systems. The actual beam depends from several different parameters (including the type of object to be detected). Data source: Finmeccanica.
Exclusive Economic Zone
Maritime area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which the coastal state exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters. Its breadth is 200 nautical miles from the straight baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (UNCLOS, Arts. 55, 56 and 57). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans
Frontex operations
Frontex has, in the past few years, carried out several sea operations at the maritime borders of the EU. The blue shapes indicate the approximate extend of these operations. Data source: Migreurop Altas.
Mobile phone coverage
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network coverage. Data source: Collins Mobile Coverage.
Oil and gas platforms
Oil and gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Data source:
Search and Rescue Zone
An area of defined dimensions within which a given state is has the responsibility to co-ordinate Search and Rescue operations, i.e. the search for, and provision of aid to, persons, ships or other craft which are, or are feared to be, in distress or imminent danger. Data source: IMO availability of search and rescue (SAR) services - SAR.8/Circ.3, 17 June 2011.
Territorial Waters
A belt of sea (usually extending up to 12 nautical miles) upon which the sovereignty of a coastal State extends (UNCLOS, Art. 2). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans