Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 15th September 2020

Case name: 2020_09_15-WM483
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to two groups of travellers in the Western Med, one boat brought back to Morocco, one jet ski arrived in Malaga.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary
On Tuesday the 15th of September, the Watch the Med – Alarm Phone was alerted to two groups of travellers in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea. The first group was rescued by the Moroccan navy and brought back to Morocco, whilst the second group arrived in Malaga.

At 06.11 CET we were alerted by a relative to a boat in distress carrying seven people. The travellers had left from Tangier the previous evening at 20.00 on a black and white rubber boat. We tried to establish contact to the travellers, and at 06.45 we received a position from the boat, showing that they were close to the Moroccan coast. At 06.56 we called the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo and forwarded all the information we had. We received two more positions which we immediately forwarded to Salvamento Maritimo. At 07.55 we called the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rabat and forwarded the information we had about the travellers via phone and email. They confirmed to us that they would take care of the search and rescue. However, we were not able to get any news about rescue efforts for this boat by the Moroccan navy, but in a call at 10.29 they confirmed that the navy was still patrolling the area. At 12.55 we reached the travellers, and they told us that they were all safely back in Morocco. According to the travellers, the Moroccan navy had arrived and endangered their rubber boat by making waves before rescuing the travellers. One of the travellers had been injured, but apart from that everyone was alright.

At 20.28 we were informed by a relative about a jet ski with two or three travellers who had left from Al Hoceima the same day at around midday. The relative had no further information. We were never able to reach the travellers directly. At 21.34 we called Salvamento Maritimo and passed on the information we had, but they were not able to give us any information about the travellers. At 22.30 we tried to call the Spanish Guardia Civil as well to ask about arrivals, but we were not able to reach them. At 22.51 we learned from friends on the ground that the travellers had arrived to Malaga and were safe.