Vessel in distress trying to reach Ceuta/Spain – all rescued

06.09.2015 / 20:57 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation, 5th of September 2015

Case name: 2015_09_05-WM50
Situation: Alarm Phone contacted by 8 people in distress near Ceuta/Spain
Status of WTM Investigations: Concluded
Place of Incidents: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Saturday, the 5th of September 2015, at 6 am the Alarm Phone ‪received a call from 8 persons in a distress situation near Ceuta, Spain. We heard panicky voices, then the call was interrupted. We tried to call them back, but could not reach them anymore. At 6.45am, we received another call from the same boat, but no connection could be established. At 8am we called the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo (SM) and informed them about the distress situation. They told us to call back half an hour later and ask for an update. When we called them again, at 12.15pm, they told us that they had rescued a rubber vessel carrying 9 persons. We could not reach the group anymore to confirm their rescue, but the next day our Moroccan contact person confirmed that the group had been saved and brought to Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in Morocco.‬‬‬

Last update: 08:48 Sep 16, 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