01/12 – 10 travelers in distress close to Lampedusa, arrived on Lampedusa

02.12.2020 / 18:35 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 1st of December 2020

Case name: 2020_12_01-CM333

Situation: Approx. ten travelers (incl. four children) in distress one hour far from Lampedusa. Arrived on Lampedusa safely.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case On the 1st of December 2020 at 19:15h CET, the Alarm Phone was called by the brother of a person on a boat in distress. There were around ten travellers on board, among them four children. The group had left the night before from Sfax, Tunisia, on a small, blue wooden boat. The person who alerted us reported that the motor had stopped working one hour far from Lampedusa and the people were urgently asking for help. The brother passed us two phone numbers on board. After several unsuccessful attempts to reach the people, we informed he Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome via phone and e-mail and passed them all information we had. We also passed the brother of the person in distress the phone number of the MRCC Rome, so he could also call there. We continued to try and reach the travelers, but without success. At 20:25h CET. We received another phone number on board from another family member. We updated the MRCC Rome at 20:29h
CET. We still could not reach the people in distress. At 22:05h CET,
we were informed by the brother that he had reached the travelers,
and they arrived safely on Lampedusa.

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