Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 27th of September 2017

Case name: 2017_09_27-WM163
Situation: 8 persons left from Tanger Med, rescued to Spain probably from close to Moroccan coast
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Wednesday the 27th of September 2017 at 7.45am, a contact person alerted the Alarm Phone to a boat in distress with 8 persons on board, which had started from Tanger Med/Morocco in the direction of Spain. They could still see the Moroccan coast, but their boat was loosing air and 4 persons had already fallen into the water. They asked to be rescued immediately, even by the Moroccan authorities. In order to not loose any minute, giving this severe situation of distress, at 7.48am, we directly called the Moroccan Marine Royale, which was, however, already informed about the case and told us that a rescue operation had already started. At 7.50am, we called the travellers directly and heard them shouting about Salvamento and BOZA!, indicating that they might have been rescued by the Spanish rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo. In another call at 7.53am, they confirmed to us that all 8 persons had been rescued by the Spanish organization and that they were on their way to Spain.