28/09: 18 travelers heading from Al Hoceima towards Motril, most probably rescued to Motril

29.09.2019 / 18:10 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 28th of September 2019

Case name: 2019_09_28-WM418
Situation: 18 travelers left from Al Hoceima, Morocco, contact broken off, most probably rescued to Motril, Spain.
Status of WTM Investigation: Unconfirmed
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:
On Saturday, 28th of September 2019 at 05:14am our shift team was alerted about a group of 18 travelers by a relative. They had left at Al Hoceima towards Motril at 03:00pm the afternoon before on a green polyester boat and were not reachable anymore. We did not have a GPS location.
At 05:20am CEST we called the Spanish Coastguard Salvamento Marítimo in Almería. As the line was busy, we called Salvamento Marítimo Algeciras who said they were not responsible for the region in question and we should call the Moroccan Coastguard in Tanger. Calling there they reported to us that the Coastguard of Almería seemed to be conducting a rescue at that moment. With a phone number we got from the Coastguard of Tanger, we managed to get through to Salvamento Marítimo Almería and gave them the information we had about our case. At 06:00am we talked to them again and they informed us they were searching for the boat now. At 07:25am we received the phone number of someone from the boat via a relative. At 08:35am we called the Coastguard again and were told there had been a rescue of around 20 people, including 5 children. We passed the phone number in case it might help identify if it was the same group we were investigating about. When we talked to them again at 08:55am we assumed the people they had rescued were the same as our case, because the number of people, direction of travel and type and color of boat were matching. They were brought to Motril. We informed the relative about it and asked for a confirmation from their side in case they would have news from the travelers.
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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