17/02 Alarm Phone alerted 87 travellers. Intercepted to Libya

18.02.2020 / 18:37 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 17th of February 2020
Case name: 2020_02_17-CM230
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 87 travellers in Central Med. Intercepted and brought back to Libya
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases:

At 17:21h a boat called our Alarm Phone team saying they needed help. After several attempts, we finally got the following information: 87 travellers, among them one woman, had left from Al Khoms the night before at midnight. Their engine was not working, there were no more life vests on board, and water was entering the boat. At 17:40 we called the Libyan authorities but no one picked up. At 17:50h we sent an email to Libyan, Maltese and Italian authorities and forwarded it to NGOs. At 18:10 we tweeted: "++ SOS in international waters! ++ A boat is in urgent distress off #Libya. The approx. 87 people on board reached out to #AlarmPhone & require rescue urgently as they cannot continue & fear for their lives. We alerted all authorities at 17.50h CET. #Europe do not let them drown!" At 18:46h we received an email answer from Ocean Viking informing authorities that they had altered course and were proceeding at best possible speed to be in a position to assist if needed. We got a new position from the boat which we forwarded to all involved authorities and NGOs. At 21:43h, after not being able to reach the boat for hours, we got an email from the so-called Libyan Coast Guard informing us that they had rescued a rubber boat with around 90 people. We asked for the condition of the travelers, but never got an answer. At 22:55h we tweeted
"The so-called Libyan Coastguard informed us that they found a boat with approx. 90 people near the distress case reported by us. We're glad they were picked up but we fear for their safety in #Libya. They need to be rescued to #Europe,
not be returned to a war.".

Last update: 15:39 Jun 18, 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