Three vessels in distress near Morocco

19.05.2015 / 19:09 / Near the Moroccan Coast

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 19th of May 2015

Case name: 2015_05_19-WM8
Situation: 3 vessels in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea, Moroccan waters
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea, near Morocco

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday the 19th of May 2015, the shift team of the Alarm Phone received a distress call from the Western Mediterranean Sea in the early morning. A vessel had left the Moroccan coast around 3am in the night and carried presumably 7 men, 2 women and 1 baby (henceforth referred to as vessel 1). They seemed distressed and although communication was difficult due to background noises, information could be obtained about their approximate place of departure. They also stated that they could see a big cargo vessel and that ‘water is changing’ which presumably indicated more difficult weather/maritime conditions. The shift team immediately contacted the Spanish rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo which stated that they would start searching for the vessel straightaway. They also suggested that they were looking for another vessel (henceforth referred to as vessel 2) with approximately 12 people on board.

Our shift team then called back the passengers of vessel 1 and passed on the information that rescue was underway. Afterwards, the people in distress contacted our shift team repeatedly, asking for immediate rescue as ‘water is closing in, all of our material is full of water’. We advised them to stay calm and re-emphasised that a rescue vessel was on its way.

In the meantime, our shift team received a call from a friend located on Moroccan mainland who knew of vessel 2 that had left the coast at around 4am and was carrying 11 people, including 2 women and 2 children. At around 8am, Salvamento Maritimo informed us that the Royal Navy of Morocco had intercepted vessel 2 which our contact person on Moroccan mainland confirmed.

Shortly afterwards, the shift team reached out to the passengers on vessel 1 once again. They confirmed that they were in the process of being rescued by two vessels of Salvamento Maritimo.

At around 9am, the shift team received another call from about 8-9 people in distress, including 1 baby, who were still located in Moroccan waters (vessel 3). They had left the coast around 4 or 5am in the morning and were asking for help. We once again contacted Salvamento Maritimo and passed on the obtained information. In a phone call that quickly broke off, the passengers seemed to suggest that a vessel of the Moroccan Navy was approaching. Afterwards, contact could not be re-established and later on, Salvamento Maritimo confirmed that the vessel had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy.
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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