2 vessels in distress in the Western Med, intercepted by Moroccan Navy

27.05.2015 / 18:25 / Western Mediterranean Sea, Morocco

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 27th of May 2015

Case name: 2015_05_27-WM10
Situation: Distress calls from the Western Mediterranean Sea, interceptions by Moroccan Navy
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea, near Morocco

Summary of the Case: In the night from Tuesday the 26th to Wednesday the 27th of May 2015, the Alarm Phone shift team received a call informing them that a vessel was about to embark from Tanger/Morocco (henceforth referred to as vessel 1). A few hours later, another phone call from mainland Morocco reached the shift team, informing them about a small vessel that needed help. However, contact was lost and could not be re-established for several hours. At around 6am, the contact person called again, informing us that the vessel had been intercepted by the Moroccan navy and that the passengers had been arrested. He thanked the shift team for ours support.

Shortly afterwards, the shift team received another call from Moroccan waters. A woman informed us that she was on a small Zodiac vessel without engine and with 12 people on board, 8 men, 2 women and two babies (henceforth referred to as vessel 2). They had left the Moroccan coast around 4am in the morning and now water was leaking into the vessel. They asked for urgent help and information about their situation was passed on to the Spanish rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo.

In a phone conversation with Salvamento Maritimo in Tarifa, they confirmed that they knew of this vessel in question. There were, however, up to 7 vessels that had left Tanger together in the early hours of the day. Salvamento Maritimo stated that they had already sent out rescue vessels that were searching for them. The shift team informed the passengers of vessel 2 and advised them to stay calm and strong. It was clear that the situation had worsened, water was leaking into the vessel, the woman was crying and there was a lot of shouting in the background.

A few minutes later, the shift team received another call from Morocco but it turned out that they were alerting us to vessel 2. Shortly afterwards, another call came in from Morocco. Again it is someone on mainland M0rocco who had reached out to the Alarm Phone the night before, notifying us about a vessel that had left in the early morning. It turned out that he was also referring to vessel 2. He had talked to the passengers only moments early and had found out that they could see a blue and orange coloured vessel, presumably belonging to Salvamento Maritimo. About two hours later, the contact person informed the shift team that vessel 2 had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy and that the passengers had been transferred already to Moroccan mainland.

The shift team informed Salvamento Maritimo about the interceptions and they stated that the Moroccan Navy had intercepted 4 vessels carrying 31 people in total who were brought back to Morocco.
Last update: 12:30 Jun 02, 2015
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

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