Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 20th of August 2019

Case name: 2019_08_20-WM410
Situation: 11 travelers started from Algeria, rescued by Salvamento Marítimo Almería
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:
On Tuesday, 20th of August at 04:20am CEST our shift team received a call from a group of 11 people who had left from around Mostaganem, Algeria, the day before at 06:00pm. Among them were 3 kids and 4 women. They had run out of fuel and needed rescue. They could see the coast of Spain far away but as there was no mobile internet coverage, they could not find out their GPS location. They were afraid due to the rough sea and several people were sick, two children suffering from asthma.
At 05:06am we informed Salvamento Maritímo Almería by phone call who stated that they could not start a rescue operation without more details about the location of the boat. We agreed with them that the Alarm Phone would continue the communication with the travelers and keep the coast guard updated.
At 05:22am we informed the travelers about the situation and tried to find out more about their location. They described their surroundings: a yellow lighthouse, fishing boats and the coast far away. They gave a detailed description of their own boat and told us they wanted to reach San José beach.
At 05:37am we passed the new information to SM Almería who told us they would investigate with the Guardia Civil.
At 05:55am we called the travelers again but could still not find out about their GPS location. We informed them that SM was searching for them now and agreed to call back in half an hour.
We sent an email to the coast guards with the collected information.
At 06:46am we called the travelers again and learned they were moving further away from the coast with the waves and at 07:15am they gave a detailed description of a yacht in the vicinity. We informed the coast guard about this and learned that they were in contact with the yacht which had spotted the travelers, so they could launch a rescue operation. We informed the travelers about this and at 09:23am we received the confirmation that SM Almería had conducted the rescue.