08/09: 2 boats from Cap Spartel, one intercepted, one rescued to Spain

09.09.2018 / 21:09 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 8th of September 2018

Case name: 2018_09_08-WM327
Situation: 2 boats from Cap Spartel, one intercepted, one rescued to Spain
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On Saturday, 8th of September, we were alerted to 2 boats in the Western Mediterranean that had left from Cap Spartel. One boat was eventually rescued to Spain, the second boat was intercepted by the Moroccan Marine.

Case 1: At 6:38am CEST we were alerted to a boat in distress that had left from Cap Spartel towards Spain at 3am CEST, carrying 12 people, among them 3 women. We managed to reach the boat at 7:23am. The travellers informed us that the boat was losing air. At 7:28am we received their GPS position. At 7:35am we called the Spanish rescue authority Salvamento Marítimo and alerted them to the boat in distress. At 7:51am we received an updated position that we also passed to Salvamento Marítimo. We also sent an email to the respective authorities with all information on the boat. At 8:41am the travellers sent us a new position. We directly informed Salvamento. At 10:39am the contact person confirmed that the people had been rescued to Spain.

Case 2: At 9:09am CEST we were informed about a boat that had left from Cap Spartel at 3am CEST, carrying 12 people, among them 5 women and a baby. We received their GPS position at 9:16am and informed Salvamento Marítimo at 9:27am. Afterwards, we couldn’t reach the boat anymore. At 3:08pm the contact person informed us that the travellers had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine Royale.

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