43 people in distress between Morocco and the Canary Islands, all rescued

07.05.2015 / 10:44 / Between Tan-Tan and Lanzarote

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 6th of May 2015

Case name: 2015_05_06-WM5
Situation: 43 people on a rubber vessel trying to reach the Canary Islands
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: In the afternoon of the 6th of May 2015, the shift team of the Alarm Phone received a call from someone located in Morocco who informed us that friends of his had left the Moroccan city of Tan-Tan at 2am in the morning and were travelling on a rubber vessel, seeking to reach Lanzarote. There were approximately 43 persons on the vessel, amongst them 3-4 women. The contact person stated that he had already informed the Spanish rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo in the morning. He passed on a phone number from one of the travellers and asked the shift team to also alert Salvamento Maritimo.

The shift team attempted to contact the passengers but nobody seemed to pick up. We then turned to Salavamento Maritimo in Las Palmas who informed us that they had found a vessel already. They were very cooperative and provided further details about the number of travellers, the type of vessel, and its location about 70 nautical miles away from Lanzarote. They also stated that an airplane was monitoring the vessel and that a rescue vessel had already been sent out to conduct a rescue operation. The shift team passed on the phone number of one of the passengers.

We then reached out to our initial contact person and passed on the details of the vessel in order to verify whether this was actually the vessel in question. The caller confirmed the information so that it seemed very likely to be the same vessel.

In the evening the shift team contacted Salvamento Maritimo once again and they confirmed around 8pm that the rescue operation had been successfully conducted only moments earlier. All 43 people had been rescued and were safe.

The shift team then informed the contact person who was really relieved and promised to stay in touch to provide further information about the well-being of the passengers.
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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