03/11: 2 boats in distress from Nador & Tanger to Spain, rescued by Moroccan Navy and MRCC Algeria

04.11.2018 / 13:16 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 3rd of November 2018
Case name: 2018_11_03-WM348
Situation: 2 boats in distress from Nador & Tanger to Spain, rescued by Moroccan Navy and MRCC Algeria
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Saturday the 3rd of November the Alarmphone shift team was alerted to 2 boats in distress.

At 10:05am CET the shift team was alerted to a boat in distress carrying 13 people, with water entering the boat. We contacted the Spanish Search and Rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo (SM) and gave them the information of the case. At 10:49am we received information that the Moroccan Navy was with the boat.
At 3:45pm we were contacted about a boat in distress carrying 30 people (including 6 women and 3 children) which had started from Nador at 4am local time. Despite having multiple phone numbers for the boat we were unable to get through to them. At 5:41pm we contacted SM and informed them of the case, they told they were already aware of this boat. At 9:21pm SM told us that they had found the boat and the travellers were fine. As we were unable to get any confirmation from the boat, we contacted SM again at 1am on Sunday the 4th of November who this time told us that a boat had been found in the same area by MRCC Algeria. At 7pm we contacted MRCC Algeria and were informed that they had rescued a boat last night with the number of travellers almost exactly matching ours.

Last update: 23:12 Nov 18, 2018

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