15-25 people in distress near Tan-Tan/Morocco, rescue/interception confirmed

11.09.2015 / 09:08 / Western Mediterranean Sea, Morocco

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation, 10th of September 2015

Case name: 2015_09_10-WM53
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to a group in distress in the Western Med who had left from Tan-Tan/Morocco
Status of WTM Investigations: Concluded
Place of Incidents: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Thursday the 10th of September 2015, at 5.25pm, the Alarm Phone was contacted by someone who informed us about a vessel with 25 people on board, including 4 girls and 1 baby that had left Tan-Tan/Morocco at around midnight. We could not reach the travellers and asked the contact person to find out more details about the case. At 7pm, the contact person informed us that an airplane had spotted the vessel and the people on board were waiting for help. When we spoke to the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo they confirmed that a rescue mission was underway. They said that their airplane had seen a group of about 15 people and while they were not certain, they seemed convinced that this would be the same vessel. However, since they were still in Moroccan waters, Salvamento Maritimo would not rescue themselves but notify the Moroccan authorities. Our contact person said that there could indeed be 15 people on the vessel and he was concerned that the Moroccan authorities would not go and rescue the vessel. At 7.40pm, he called us and told us that the people on board were very tired – they had stay for 4 days in a forest prior to their journey and not eaten for 2 days. At 7.50pm, Salvamento Maritimo told us that a rescue operation was underway: two Spanish helicopters were in the area and two vessels from Morocco were approaching. At 8.25pm, our contact person asked us to call the Moroccan authorities directly. MRCC Rabat/Morocco wanted to know a lot of details about the Alarm Phone before telling us at 8.40pm that a rescue operation as indeed going on – a Moroccan helicopter was also in the area. We spoke to one of the travellers a few days later: the whole group had been brought safely back to 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