Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 23rd of July 2018

Case name: 2018_07_23-WM294
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to several emergency situations in the Western Med
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On the 23rd of July 2018, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a total of 23 boats in distress situations in the Western Mediterranean Sea. 11 were rescued to Spain, 12 returned to Morocco.

The first emergency situation reached us at 7am CEST, when a contact person informed us about a boat carrying 12 people that had left from Achakar/Morocco. Our shift team was in direct contact with the boat. At 8.40am, we received the information that they had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy.

The second boat carried a 32 people in total, and had left also from Achakar. We were informed by a contact person around 7am CEST, but were ourselves never able to directly speak to the travellers. In the evening we received the information that they had been rescued to Spain.

The third boat carried six people and had left from Cap Spartel. We learned about it also via a contact person at 7.15am CEST. We informed the Spanish Search and Rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo (SM) at 8.10am to the case. They confirmed at 9.35am that they had begun to rescue the people and at 10.30am we received the confirmation from our initial contact person that they had been rescued to Spain.

The fourth boat had left from Achakar, carrying 11 people, including 2 women. We were informed via a contact person at 7.55am. We could not reach the boat directly but we received the confirmation later that they had been rescued to Spain.

At 7.45am, we learned about the fifth boat in distress. We reached the 12 travellers, including 1 woman directly at 8.35am. At 10.42am we received their confirmation that they had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy.

We were alerted to the sixth boat at 8.08am by a contact person. It carried 12 people, including 2 women and they had left from Achakar. We spoke to the travellers directly but at 10.55am we were informed that they had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy.

At around the same time, we were informed about the seventh boat in distress, carrying 9 people who had left from Achakar. Our contact person asked us to involve the Spanish SM and Moroccan Navy as some of the people had fallen into the water and needed immediate support. We later found out that they had been rescued to Spain.

Case eight reached us at 9.25am when a relative contacted us about a boat carrying 12 people. We were able to reach the travellers directly. We alerted SM to their distress at 9.45am. In the evening, we received the confirmation that they had been rescued to Spain.

At 10.20am, we received information about a boat carrying 12 people, including one woman. The boat had started from Achakar. We were never able to speak to the travellers directly but we received the confirmation later on that they had reached Spain.

Case ten reached us at 10.25am, when a contact person sent us information concerning a group of 13 people, including 3 women, who had left from Achakar. We could not reach them. In the evening we learned that they had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy.

Case eleven reached us about an hour later. The boat carried 6 people, including 1 woman. We alerted SM to the case and at 3.40pm we received the confirmation that they had been rescued.

Case twelve involved also six people, who found themselves in a situation of distress. We established contact with them at 1.32pm when they asked us to alert SM and forwarded their GPS position. At 2.35pm, we received the confirmation that they had been rescued to Spain.

Case thirteen reached us via a contact person who informed us about 8 people on a boat in distress. We could not reach them but later learned that they had been rescued to Spain.

The fourteenth boat in distress carried an unknown number of people who were in distress in Moroccan waters. We were in contact with them and learned that there was a child on board. The next day we found out that they had returned independently to Morocco.

The fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth boats in distress on this day also returned independently to Morocco. The first had carried 11 people, the second 6, the number of travellers on the third and fourth boats is unclear.

The nineteenth boat carried 12 people, including 2 women, the eighteenth boat. We learned that they were later rescued by SM to Spain.

The twentieth case involved an unclear number of people on a boat in distress. We informed SM and later received the confirmation that they had been rescued to Spain.

The twenty-first case involved 9 people, including 1 woman, who were in distress after leaving from Achakar. We spoke to them directly and they said that they could see a boat in the vicinity which, however, seemed to not see them. We informed SM at 3.40pm. In the evening we learned that they had been intercepted to Morocco.

The twenty-second boat in distress carried 11 people, including 1 infant, who had left from Achakar. We informed SM to the case. In the evening we found out that they had returned independently to Morocco.

The twenty-third boat carried 9 people and had left from Tangier. We informed SM at 8.05pm. We later found out that they had returned to Morocco independently.