11/04: 57 travelers, including 2 women from Bouyafar rescued to Morocco

12.04.2021 / 12:14 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 2021

Case name: 2021_04_11WM587

Situation: 57 travelers, including 2 women from Bouyafar rescued to Morocco.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of Case

On April 11th at 01:40h CET the Alarm Phone was alerted to a 5-6 m long rubber boat in distress carrying 57 travelers, including 2 women that left from Bouyafar in the early morning on April 10th. We did not manage to establish contact with the boat throughout the whole night. In the morning we find a tweet by Helena Maleno from the previous day alerting to a similar boat in danger in the Alboran Sea. At 07:55h we alerted the authorities about the case, they said they have been searching until midnight however didn’t find the boat. Throughout all this time we were not able to establish contact with the boat. At 20:30h we call the Spanish authorities, Salvamento Maritimo Almeria however they claim that they can’t give us any information. At 22:50 relatives of the travelers inform us that the people are near the island Alboran. Shortly after we receive a message from friends of the travelers asking us to call the
authorities because the boat is in great danger. Their motor has stopped working and water is entering the boat. At 00:55h we manage to establish contact with the boat. They say they see a boat close to the port of Al Hoceima. They also said that they have tried calling the Moroccan authorities, however they were not responding. They also
add that there are 3 children on the boat and need urgent rescue. Shortly after we received a confirmation from the boat that they have
been rescued by the Moroccan authorities, however we are not sure if this is true. At 01:19h we call the Moroccan authorities (MRCC Rabat) and they confirm that Marine Royal is on the way to rescue them. At 05:11h we call MRCC Rabat, but they have no news from MR. On April 12th we found a confirmation of a rescue by MR posted by Heroes del Mar, and later also confirmed by MRCC Rabat. They confirmed that the boat was rescued at 01:00h local time.

Twitter Chronology:

11. April

10:56CET
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1381169159640395779

21:47CET
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1381333074311536645?s=19

12. April

01:23CET
https://twitter.com/Heroesdelmar/status/1381387475944374280

09:25CET
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1381508821131141126

Last update: 12:27 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