07/09: 4 boats from Morocco, 3 intercepted, one most probably rescued to Spain

08.09.2018 / 21:07 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 7h of September 2018

Case name: 2018_09_07-WM326
Situation: 4 boats from Morocco, 3 intercepted, one most probably rescued to Spain
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On Friday, 7th of September, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 4 boats in the Western Mediterranean Sea. 3 boats were eventually intercepted by the Moroccan Marine Royale, one boat was most probably rescued to Spain.

Case 1: At 7:50am CEST we were alerted to two boats that had left together from Cap Spartel, one with 12 people on board (including 2 women), one with 11 people (including 1 woman). We managed to reach one of the boats at 8:40am but we couldn’t find out their GPS position or any additional information. At 1:47pm we reached the phone again. The travellers had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine Royale.

Case 2: At 8:45am we were alerted to a boat from Asilah, carrying 65 people, among them 15 women and 4 babies. They had left from Asilah at 6am local time. We stayed in contact with the boat. At 10am they informed us that they had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine Royale.

Case 3: At 10:54am we were informed about a boat from Tangier with a broken engine, 25 people on board. We couldn’t establish a connection to the boat. At 1:15pm the contact person informed us that the boat had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine.

Case 4: At 11:30am CEST we were alerted to a boat in distress that had left from Cap Spartel at 4 am. We received their GPS position at 12:55am. At 1:07pm we called Salvamento Marítimo and alerted them to the boat. They informed us that a rescue operation would already be ongoing. We also sent an email to the respective authorities to document the alert. We didn’t reach the boat anymore. We couldn’t confirm the definite rescue, but most probably the travellers were rescued to Spain.

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