17/07: 3 boats left from Morocco, 2 were intercepted and 1 returned on its own

18.07.2018 / 21:10 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 17th of July 2018
Case name: 2018_07_17-WM288
Situation: 3 boats left from Morocco, 2 were intercepted and 1 returned on its own
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Monday, July 17, The Alarm Phone was alerted to three boats that left the coast of Morocco. 2 of the boats were intercepted by the Marine Royale, and one returned to Morocco on its own.

At 1.35 CEST, The Alarm Phone received information about a boat of 12 people, including 1 pregnant woman. At 8.56, the shift team received news that the boat had returned to Morocco on its own and all passengers were safe.

At 4.30 CEST, a contact person informed The Alarm Phone that a boat with 12 people had left Morocco the previous night. The Alarm Phone tried to contact the boat but the passengers did not answer. At 7.15, the shift team received confirmation that the boat had been intercepted by Marine Royale and the passengers were brought back to Morocco.

At 9.45am CET, a contact person informed The Alarm Phone that a boat of 4 people had left from Morocco several hours earlier. The shift team attempted to contact the boat several times but there was no answer until 11.50, when they confirmed that they had been intercepted from Marine Royale, but all passengers were safely back in Morocco.

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