Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations 30th of July 2015

Case name: 2015_07_30-WM34
Situation: Vessels in distress between Morocco and Spain
Status of WTM Investigations: Concluded
Place of Incidents: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Thursday the 30th of July 2015, the Alarm Phone was contacted at approximately 3.30am by someone with a Moroccan phone number who could only state that they were in distress at sea before the connection broke down. Our shift team was called again a few minutes later and told that there were 6 people on a vessel in distress and they had left the Moroccan coast a few hours earlier on a rubber boat. We then turned to the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo who said that they would take on the case. In the meantime, the travellers called repeatedly and asked for urgent rescue. At approximately 4.15am, Salvamento Maritimo confirmed that they sent out a rescue vessel and we passed the info on to the travellers. At approximately 4.45am Salvamento Maritimo reported that they had difficulties finding the vessel despite being in direct contact with the travellers as well. Afterwards, contact to the vessel could not be re-established. We reached out to Salvamento Maritimo once again at approximately 6am and they were still searching for the vessel. Hours later, at about 9.30am, Salvamento Maritimo confirmed that they passengers had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy.

At approximately 7.30am on the same day, we received a call from someone whose family was at sea. We received a phone number of one of the travellers and contacted them directly. There were 11 people on board and they asked us to contact Salvamento Maritimo. The Spanish rescue organisation confirmed that they were already looking for the vessel in question. At 9.30 am, their rescue by Salvamento Maritimo was confirmed.

We were alerted to a third case of distress by a contact person who told us about a group that left the Moroccan shores in the early hours of the day. We reached out to them and they told us, around 9am, that there were 10 people on board. One hour later the travellers confirmed that they had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy.

In the afternoon, at approximately 5.15pm, we were called by a man who told us he was at a boat with 12 persons which had left Cap Spartel at around 10.00am and they needed to be rescued. We informed Salvamento Maritimo and after obtaining the permission from the caller, passed on the phone number to the Spanish rescue organisation. Salvamento Maritimo stated that they thought that the caller was not himself on a vessel but in fact calling from mainland Morocco to get information about his friends who had probably been intercepted earlier in the day by the Moroccan navy. They suggested that they would not send out their rescue teams, vessels and helicopters if they could not rely on the given information. They were certain that the vessel in question had already been intercepted by Morocco as they knew of such case concerning a group of 12 travellers. We then sought to get in touch with our initial contact person but he could not be reached anymore.