25/06 Alarm Phone alerted to one vessel in distress off Libya, rescue confirmed

26.06.2017 / 21:53 / Libya

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 25th of June 2017

Case name: 2017_06_25-CM111
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to vessel in distress off Libya
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Sunday the 25th of June 2017, at 5.30pm, our shift team received a call from a contact person in Rome, who informed us about a boat in distress off the coast of Libya. She told us that there were about 50 people on a boat, including children who were sick. They had left from Garabulli/Libya at about 9pm the evening before. We received a phone number and tried to contact them, without success. At 5.55pm, we informed MRCC Rome per email. In a phone conversation with them at 6.04pm they stated that this boat might have been rescued already and asked us to call again in a few hours. At 9pm, MRCC Rome stated that all SAR missions were successful and that no boats were left in the water. We also reached out to our initial contact person who said that she would contact us if she received any news. Shortly after midnight she called us and verified that the boat in question had been saved and that all travellers were fine.

Last update: 17:07 Jul 26, 2017

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