03/04: 8 men who left from Annaba rescued to Algeria

04.04.2021 / 12:21 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 2021

Case name: 2021_04_03CM404

Situation: 8 men who left from Annaba rescued to Algeria.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of Case

On April 3rd at 12:00h CET the Alarm Phone was alerted to a small plastic boat with a 40hp engine carrying 8 men that left from Annaba in the morning of April 1st. At 14:30 we informed the Italian authorities about the case, they did not know anything about it, but agreed to pass on the information to the main rescue centre. Shortly after we received the information from relatives of the travelers that the boat has arrived to a place close to Cagliari, but this information had to be verified. Throughout all this time we did not
manage to establish contact with the boat. On the following day we called MRCC Cagliari who knew about the boat but refused to give us
information and instead referred us to MRCC Rome. On April 4th at 11:11h we called MRCC Algiers however they didn’t have any news
about the case, same as on April 5th. They added that Tunis also had a search and rescue operation under way. On April 6th we received no updates. On April 7th at 08:11h we contacted MRCC Rome, but unfortunately they had no news. Later on we called the Algerian authorities who said that they have been
searching for the whole week but did not find anything. At 19:00h a relative contacted us and informed us that her brother was found in
the Algerian sea and is back in safety. Later on we received another confirmation from friends of the travelers that they were all rescued by a merchant vessel to Algeria.

Twitter Chronology

07. April

09:20CET
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1379695452275216388

21:58CET
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1379886419431321602

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