26/12: 32 travellers in distress in the Central Med rescued by Alan Kurdi

27.12.2019 / 22:29 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 26th of December 2019
Case name: 2019_12_26-CM217
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to boat with 32 people, all rescued by Sea Eye
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Thursday the 26th of December at 10.20pm the Alarm Phone was called directly by a group of 32 travellers, including 10 children and five women of which one pregnant. The travellers had left from Zuwarah, and gave us their position. At 10.30pm we sent an email to the so-called Lybian coastguard and the civil search and rescue vessel Alan Kurdi, informing them about the boat in distress. Our shift team was able to remain in contact with the travellers, and was informed that one of the boats two engines broke down, which left them drifting for a while. At 00.38am the travellers told us that they saw a small boat coming towards them, and our shift team could guided them in keeping calm and staying seated whilst the boat approached. At 01.36am Alan Kurdi confirmed that they were carrying out the rescue operation of the boat, and later they confirmed that all 32 travellers were safe onboard their vessel.

Last update: 09:38 Mar 04, 2020

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