8 people in distress, intercepted by Moroccan Navy

29.05.2015 / 12:24 / Western Mediterranean Sea, Morocco

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 28th of May 2015

Case name: 2015_05_28-WM11
Situation: Distress call from the Western Mediterranean Sea, interception by Moroccan Navy
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea, near Morocco

Summary of the Case: On Thursday the 28th of May 2015, the Alarm Phone shift team received a call in the morning from mainland Morocco, informing us that a vessel carrying 8 people had left from Malabata beach near Tanger in Morocco at around 4am. He passed on a phone number of one of the passengers and stated that water was leaking into the vessel. These information were passed on to the Spanish rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo who confirmed that they would launch a rescue operation with both a helicopter and a rescue vessel. Our shift team reached out to the contact person in Morocco who told us that water was leaking into the vessel more and more, with people beginning to panic. We asked him to advise the passengers to stay calm and wait for the rescue vessel.

Salvamento Maritimo finally informed us at 9:45am that the boat had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine.

Last update: 12:33 Jun 02, 2015

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