Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 29th of May 2015

Case name: 2015_05_29-WM12
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: At around 6am on Friday the 29th of May, the Alarm Phone shift team received a call from a vessel in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea, north of Morocco. The person on the phone asked for help and stated that the sea was rough. Before our shift team could gather further information, the connection broke off.

We alerted the Spanish rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo to the case and were told that they had already established contact to the passengers themselves. They asked us to re-connect with the passengers to find out how many people were on board. We succeeded to re-establish a phone connection and were told that 7 people were on a vessel that had left the Moroccan shore two hours earlier. He repeatedly stated that the sea was rough and that we should alert Salvamento Maritimo.

In another conversation with Salvamento Maritimo we were informed that they would conduct a rescue operation. At around 6.30am, the shift team sought to contact the passengers again but without success. For several hours, no contact could be established. At around 10am, Salvamento Maritimo confirmed that Moroccan authorities had intercepted and rescued the passengers. They were returned to Tanger/Morocco. More information emerged, suggesting that there were 11 persons on board. Two women were released and nine men were transported by the Moroccan police to a place further away from the border.