Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 19th of July 2018

Case name: 2018_07_19-WM290
Situation: 7 boats: 2 rescued by Salvamento Maritimo, 3 intercepted by Marine Royale, 2 returned to Morocco on their own
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Wednesday, July 19, The Alarm Phone was alerted to 7 boats, including 2 that were rescued by Salvamento Maritimo, 3 intercepted by the Marine Royale and 2 returned to Morocco on their own.

At 7.12 CEST, The Alarm Phone received a call from a boat of 12 people (including 1 woman and 2 children), paddling with no engine. They asked to be rescued. The Alarm Phone alerted Salvamento Maritimo, who was in touch with the boat and waiting for a position. At 11.54 Salvamento Maritimo alerted the shift team that they had just rescued a boat of 12 people. The shift team tried to contact the passengers to confirm their rescue. At 24.33, The Alarm Phone received confirmation that all persons had been rescued to Spain. (Last Position: 35.7942752 °N, -6.1261354°E)


At 8 CEST, a contact person alerted The Alarm Phone about a boat of 11 people (including 2 women). The Alarm phone informed Salvamento Maritimo and Marine Royale of the information and position. The Alarm Phone tried but was unable to reach the boat for several hours. At 16.52, the contact person told Alarm Phone that the people had rowed back to Morocco. The Alarm Phone was in contact with the passengers until 21.36.

At 10.21 CEST, The Alarm Phone received the position of a boat with 6 people (including 2 women) that wanted to be rescued. The shift team was in touch with the boat and Salvamento Maritimo for several hours. At 12.57, the boat sent a final position and was rescued to Spain (Last position: 35.8418621,-6.0387164)

At 9.02 CEST, The Alarm Phone received the position of a boat with 8 travellers. The shift team was in touch with the boat throughout the day, and at 14.23 the shift team was informed that the Marine Royale had rescued them and the boat had been brought back to Morocco.

At 9.08 CEST, The Alarm Phone received the position of a boat with 11 people (including one child). At 9.51, the boat informed the shift team that water was entering the boat and they needed to be rescued. The Alarm Phone alerted Salvamento Maritimo and the Marine Royale of the situation. The shift team tried, but was unable to make contact with the boat for several hours, but maintained contact with the Marine Royale to try and receive any information. At 20.12, the shift team finally received confirmation that the passengers were safely back in Morocco, although one person was sick and in the hospital.

From 14.33, The Alarm Phone shift team was in touch with a boat of 11 people (including 1 child). At 21.41, the shift team received confirmation that all people were back in Morocco as their boat had capsized because of high waves. Ultimately, they were close enough to the shore so that the waves pushed them back to land. All are safe, and one person was hospitalized but is in fine condition.

At 15.51, the shift team received a position of a boat with an unknown number of people. They passed the position on to Salvamento Maritimo. At 16.59, a contact person informed The Alarm Phone that the boat was intercepted and brought back to Morocco. (Last Position: 35.780615,-6.043178333333333)