31/07 55 people in two boats rescued to the Canaries

01.08.2020 / 21:36 / Western Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 31st of July 2020

Case name: 2020_07_31-WM474

Situation: 32 people rescued to Lanzarote; 43 people rescued to Gran Canaria

Place of incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the case:

Case 1

On 31 July at 4.50am CEST the Alarm Phone was informed about a boat with 32 people on board (8 women, 24 men). The travellers had left from somewhere between Tantan and Guelmim at 7am the previous day, 30 July, in the direction of Lanzarote. We tried calling the travellers repeatedly but no direct contact could be established. Unable to make direct contact with the boat, we informed Salvamento Marítimo (SM) at 9.20am on 31 July. They informed us that they were already aware of this boat and had been investigating, but had not yet found anything. At 11.35pm on 31 July we received news from the Guardia Civil that 32 people had been rescued to Lanzarote that evening. After some clarification we confirmed this to be the same boat and passed on the happy news to those who had contacted us. BOZA.

Case 2

On 31st July at 11pm CEST the Alarm Phone was informed about a boat with 43 people on board (2 women, 40 men, 1 child). The travellers had left from Laayoune, Western Sahara at 1am CEST on 31 July in the direction of the Canary Islands. We attempted to call the travellers on hearing the news and continued to regularly attempt phone contact but did not succeed in establishing any direct contact. Following receipt of this information we contacted Salvamento Marítimo (SM) and other relevant authorities to let them know about the boat in distress. At 2.28am CEST on 2 August we received news that the travellers had reached Spain. This was then confirmed by the Guardia Civil. BOZA.

Last update: 19:34 Dec 20, 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