05/04: 9-10 men from Al Hoceima rescued to Motril

06.04.2021 / 11:31 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 2021

Case name: 2021_04_05WM581

Situation: 9-10 men from Al Hoceima rescued to Motril.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Position : none

Summary of Case

On April 5th at 14.18 CEST the Alarm Phone was alerted to a red and black rubber boat about 4m long, carrying 9-10 men of Moroccan origin that left from Al Hoceima going towards Motril. Since we did not manage to establish contact with the boat, friends of the people on the boat requested that we inform the authorities. The Spanish authorities were informed at 16:58 CEST and shortly after we also informed the Moroccan authorities. At 20:22 the relatives of the people on the boat managed to establish contact with the boat and informed us that they are in severe distress, lost their engine and water was entering the boat. At 20:23 we called Marine Royal, the Moroccan authorities and they informed us that a rescue was under way. Later on we also received a confirmation from the relatives that the people have been rescued to Motril.

Twitter Chronology
5. April

21:36CEST
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1379156015539707910

6. April
12:32CEST
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1379156015539707910?s=19

Last update: 11:41 Nov 10, 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