09/12 approx. 50 travelers on the water for four days, rescued probably to Morocco

10.12.2019 / 19:34 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 9th of December 2019

Case name: 2019_12_09-WM433
Situation: Around 50 travelers in distress, on the water for four days, started from Tan Tan, Morocco and probably brought back to Morocco by the Moroccan Navy
Status of WTM Investigation: Confirmed
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:
On 9 December 2019 at 10:25am CET, the Alarm Phone was called by a person in Morocco who was worried for a boat that had left four days ago from Tan Tan, Morocco. He had received a call from the travelers this morning saying they were in distress close to Tarfaya, Morocco. He passed us a phone number of the travelers, but we could not get through to them. At 10:40am he passed us a second phone number and we could reach the people and learned that they were around 50 persons. We tried to explain to them that we needed their GPS location, but the connection was bad and made communication difficult. It took us an hour to get through to them again and when we talked to them again at 11:55am, they reported that their boat was losing air, and they asked us if we had informed the Moroccan Navy, because they had been called by the Moroccan authorities who said they would pick them up soon. We assumed that the person who had contacted us in the first time had alerted them. The travelers reported that they had called the Moroccan Navy already the day before, because they already needed a rescue then, and they asked us to call them too, to make sure they would react this time. At 12:30pm we called the Moroccan authorities, but they were not available. At 12:35pm we called the Coastguard of Las Palmas and passed them the information. We also sent an e-mail to MRCC Rabat and Las Palmas. At 01:03pm the travelers reported to see a boat next to them and we received an e-mail from the Coastguard of Las Palmas, saying that the Moroccans had just sent out a rescue vessel from Tarfaya. At 01:17pm, we called MRCC Rabat and they confirmed that the rescue operation had started, and they had sent a helicopter to search for the people, because there was no GPS location for the case. At 01:20pm the travelers reported that a boat had stopped by, assumingly Moroccan authorities, but they were not communicating but just observing them. At 02:00pm the travelers confirmed that everyone was rescued and safe, and we assumed they were brought back to Morocco.

Last update: 18:54 Dec 30, 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