27/10: 12 travellers rescued in the Alboran and brought to Spain

28.10.2019 / 18:55 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 27th of October 2019
Case name: 2019_10_27-WM424
Situation: 12 travellers from Al Hoceima rescued by the Salvamento Maritimo and brought to Spain.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Sunday the 27th of October at 0.35am CET the Alarm Phone was alerted by a relative to a group of 12 travellers who had left from west of Al Hoceima in a wooden boat, heading in direction of Motril. The relative had last had contact to the boat the previous day at 11am. At 1.14am we informed the Spanish rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo (SM) about the boat, and they told us that they were already looking for this boat, but were unsure about whether it was still at sea. Throughout the night and morning we called SM several times, but they refused to give us updates about ongoing search and rescue operations. At 9.27am the relative told us that the travellers had been rescued, but it was still unclear if they had been taken to Morocco or Spain. SM could not give us information about this, so we called the Guardia Civil who told us that the travellers were in the reception centre in Almeria.

Last update: 20:28 Dec 29, 2019

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