Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 1st of October 2018
Case name: 2018_10_01-WM340
Situation: 28 people in distress, rescued by Salvamento Maritimo and brought to Spain.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Monday the 1st of October at 3.56pm CEST, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a contact person to a boat carrying 28 people, including seven women and a child. The travellers had left from around Nador, and the contact person had lost contact to the boat. We were also not able to establish direct contact to the travellers, but at 5.35pm we called the Spanish search and rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo (SM) and alerted them to the situation. A little more than an hour later we called back SM, and they this time confirmed that they were searching for the boat. Throughout the evening it was not possible for us to obtain information about new developments concerning the search and rescue operation.
The following morning we were again in close communication with SM, who were busy with many boats in distress. At 9.05am we learned that SM had recommenced the search and rescue operation in the morning, and two hours later we spoke to them again, where they confirmed that the operation was still ongoing.
Only in the evening at 9.05pm did we receive the information from the contact person that the travellers had been rescued and brought to Spain. This was soon after confirmed in an email from SM.