30/07: 11 people intercepted by Moroccan Navy on their way to Spain

31.07.2016 / 14:34 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations –30th of July 2016

Case name: 2016_07_30-WM111
Situation: Alarm Phone called from boat with 11 people on board in Western Med, intercepted by Moroccan Navy on their way to Spain
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Saturday, the 30th of July 2016 at 7am, a person called the Alarm Phone from Morocco and informed us about his brother, who had left the Moroccan coast together with 10 other people at 5.15am and was not reachable anymore. We asked the contact person to provide us with the place of departure of the boat and with the travellers’ phone number. At 7.20am, we received the phone number and tried to call it immediately afterwards, but without success. At 7.30am, the contact person informed us that the travellers had left from the port of Tangier Med and were heading in the direction of Tarifa/Spain. As he had not been in contact with the travellers for about two hours, we asked him if we should call the coast guard and he said yes. At 7.35am, we called Salvamento Marítimo in Tarifa and forwarded all information we had obtained so far. At 7.45am, we talked to the contact person again, told him that the Spanish coast guard was alerted and asked him got call us again if he received any further information. At 7.56am, we sent an email to Salvamento Marítimo, UNHCR Madrid and CEAR Andalucía, informing them about the case. At 8.05am, we checked the area in question on vesselfinder.com, but were not able to detect any rescue vessel nearby. At 8.34am, we sent another email to two individual email-accounts from CEAR Andalucía. Afterwards, we tried to reach the travellers several times, but again without success. At 8.55am, we talked to the contact person and asked him for another phone number of the travellers on board. At 8.57am, he forwarded a second phone number to us, however, we did not reach the travellers on this number either. At 9.02am, we were finally able to talk to one of the travellers and he informed us, that they had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine Royal and had been brought to a Moroccan camp. At 9.03am, we informed the contact person about the interception of the boat. After another try to reach the travellers directly, the contact person called us back and told us, that his brother had called him and had informed him, that all 11 travellers were now with the Moroccan police.
Last update: 14:01 Aug 19, 2016
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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

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