05/02 Two boats rescued by Ocean Viking

06.02.2021 / 06:28 / Central Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 5th February 2021
Case name: 2021_02_05-CM359
Situation: 2 boats, about 180 people, rescued by Ocean Viking
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:
At about 06:45h CET on 5 February 21 we were contacted by a group of travellers in distress. They were from Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Sudan. We received conflicting information about the number of people on board, although 106 people were finally rescued. There was at least one heavily pregnant woman and 10 children on board. They had left in a convoy with a second boat.

We received a position which we forwarded, along with information about the second boat, to MRCC Rome, copying in the so-called Libyan Coastguard, RCC Malta, Pilotes Voluntaires and Ocean Viking, who were in the vicinity.

At 09:29h Ocean Viking responded to our email and announced they were proceeding to the distress case. At the same time, Pilotes
Voluntaires sent an email to tell us that they had located the boat.

We remained in contact with the boat and forwarded updated positions to the relevant authorities and NGOs. At 10:24h the people on the boat told us that they could see Ocean Viking. We Put out the following href="https://mobile.twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1357621379034714113" target="_blank">tweet:
~110 people need help off Libya!
Today, AlarmPhone was alerted by about 110
people in distress on a rubber boat off the Libyan coast. They are at risk of drowning and request a rescue operation. We alerted
authorities & #OceanViking to this case and demand immediate action!

At 10:37h Ocean Viking announced that they had found the vessel would proceed to bring the people on board as they were in need of
immediate assistance. At 12:23h Ocean Viking announced that they had rescued 106 people. Ocean Viking were also able to locate the second boat and brought the approximately 75 people on that vessel on board as well.

Last update: 06:53 May 22, 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