Vessel from Egypt in distress carrying 600 people, safe arrival assumed

14.07.2015 / 20:33 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 13th of July 2015

Case name: 2015_07_13-CM32
Situation: Approximately 600 people in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea, safe arrival assumed
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Monday the 13th of July, the Alarm Phone shift team was contacted in the evening by a woman who told us about a vessel that had left Alexandria in Egypt about one week earlier, carrying Syrians. Her family was on the vessel and she was unable to connect with them ever since they left Egypt, leaving her worried. We reached out to the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome and, while reluctant, they finally told us that there was a vessel from Egypt with about 600 people on board which was found on the 10th of July. They stated that the vessel had not been rescued yet and that it was supposed to land independently in the Italian port of Taranto. MRCC Rome advised us to contact the Taranto port police and ask for the names of our contact person’s relatives. We passed these information on to our contact person who wanted to reach out to the port authorities.

Last update: 22:44 Jul 20, 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