18/09 12 travellers in distress in the CM, probably arrived to Lampedusa

19.09.2020 / 18:30 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 18th of September 2020
Case name: 2020_09_18-CM300
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 12 travellers leaving Sabartha, probably arrived in Lampedusa but no final confirmation possible.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases:
On Friday the 18th of September at 18.24 CEST, the Alarm Phone shift team received a call from 12 travellers in distress in the Central Mediterranean sea. The travellers had left from Sabratha at around midday the same day, and informed our shift team that one person onboard was sick. They also forwarded us their exact position. At 18.53 we sent an email to the so-called Libyan coastguard alerting them to the situation, and afterwards we forwarded the email to the civil rescue NGO Sea Eye. After this, we were not able to reach the travellers during the whole night. Only at 6.52 the following day did we manage to reestablish contact. The travellers told us that the engine was broken, that waves were high and they were drifting. They asked for urgent assistance. We managed to receive the updated position of the travellers. However, in a call 20 minutes later the travellers had managed to reignite the engine, and were now moving. In this call they also informed us that one person on board had fainted. At 8.08 we sent an email to the Italian and Maltese rescue authorities along with the civil aircraft Moonbird, opreated by the rescue NGO Sea Watch, informing them about the distress case. At 8.35 we called the Italian coastguard who confirmed they had received our email, but insisted that the position of the boat was in Maltese waters. However, we were not able to reach the Maltese coastguard by phone.
We were never able to reach the travellers again, and by monitoring the credit on their satellite phone we could establish that they were also not in contact with others. We know that many boats arrived to Lampedusa these days, and assume that this boat is amongst them. However, a final confirmation could not be achieved.

Last update: 21:03 Jan 13, 2021

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