13/09: 2 Boats intercepted by the Moroccan Navy

14.09.2016 / 22:44 / Western Mediterranean Sea, Morocco

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 13th of September 2016

Case name: 2016_09_13-WM119
Situation: 2 boats with 17 travellers intercepted by the Moroccan Navy
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the Cases: On Tuesday the 13th of September 2016, at 7.15am, we received a call from a contact person from Morocco about 10 travellers in distress. They had left on a Zodiac from Tanger at 6.30am and had run into problems, as the boat had started to leak. At 7.43am, we managed to reach the travellers directly, however they only picked up the phone and did not speak. It sounded as if a rescue operation was taking place. This impression was confirmed to us by contact persons in Morocco, who informed us that the travellers had been picked up by the Marine Royal. A second boat, with 7 travellers, that had left at the same time as the zodiac, was also intercepted. Some of the 17 travellers were bussed to Kenitra close to Rabat, after being registered at the police station in Tanger. This is a usual practice in Morocco with the aim of preventing another attempt to cross the border.

Last update: 22:25 Oct 11, 2016

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