26/07: 67 people coming from Al Khums, rescued to Malta

27.07.2019 / 11:43 / Central Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 26th of July 2019

Case name: 2019_07_26-CM176
Situation: 67 travellers rescued to Malta
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:

On July 26th at 01.25 am CEST the Alarm Phone were alerted to a boat in distress said to carry about 60 people. They were in the water already 27 hours when they called our hotline. We asked for GPS position but the travellers were not able to send it, they assumed to be near Malta. 8 hours later we still were in contact with the travellers and loading up their satellite phone credit from time to time. At 09:48 am CEST we passed the number of RCC Malta. We stayed in contact with the travellers moreover but lost contact around 11 am CEST. We decided to call RCC Malta by ourselves at 12:59 pm CEST. The operator was uncooperative and leave us without any information about ongoing rescue operations. We repeatedly called the authorities within the next 5 hours but the behaviour of RCC Malta remained equal: They refused to give us information. Only at 6:30 pm CEST we got the confirmation about a rescue of 67 people in a white boat that was at sea for over 40 hours. We couldn‘t reach the travellers anymore, but hoped it was their boat that was rescued!

Last update: 22:40 Sep 02, 2019

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