29/03: 120 travellers probably rescued by Open Arms

30.03.2021 / 12:19 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 29th March 2021

Case name: 2021_03_29-CM394

Situation: 120 travellers from Zuwara probably rescued by Open Arms
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: In the early morning of Monday the 29th of March the Alarm Phone was called by a worried relative of a traveller on a boat in distress. The relative told us that there were 120 travellers on board, they had departed from Zuwara and the last GPS position he had received was in Maltese Search and Rescue zone. The relative had lost contact with the boat and was asking for urgent help. Soon after, at 05:18h CEST we sent an email alerting about the case to the Italian and Maltese coastguard as well as to UNHCR and NGO boat Open Arms. Around 09:28h our shift team called the Italian coastguard asking about this and other ongoing cases however, the officer did not give us any information. While we were never able to receive confirmation we think that this boat was probably rescued by the NGO boat Open Arms.

Last update: 20:26 Aug 28, 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