Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 19th April 2021
Case name: 2021_04_19-WM589
Situation: Boat carrying 33 travellers in distress in the Alboran, rescued by Salvamento Maritimo and brought to Motril
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean
Summary On Monday the 19th of April at 15.39 CEST the Alarm Phone shift team was contacted by a relative alerting us to a rubber boat in distress in the Alboran Sea. Onboard the boat were 32 travellers who had left from a beach close to Nador at 06.00 CEST the same morning. At 15.58 CEST we called the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo and passed on the information we had. In addition, we forwarded all information via email. At 17.10 CEST we called Salvamento Maritimo again. They told us that they were searching for the boat and that they had passed on the information to the Moroccan rescue authorities as well. Shortly after, we were informed by the relative that the travellers had run out of petrol and were adrift. At 17.48 CEST we published a tweet about the ongoing distress:
SOS! Today, we were alerted by a relative to 32 people in distress in the #Alboran. According to the relative, the boat left at 6am & has run out of petrol. We can’t establish direct contact. #SalvamentoMaritimo is alerted. We ask for an urgent rescue operation. #DontLetThemDrown
At 19.08 CEST we managed to get a position of the travellers through the relative, which we immediately passed on to Salvemento Maritimo. At 19.45 we spoke to Salvamento Maritimo again, and they informed us that they were asking a nearby merchant vessel to assist the rescue of the travellers. Half an hour later, the relative informed us that the travellers had seen an aircraft, and sent us their updated position. Again, we forwarded all information to Salvamento Maritimo. At 21.10 CEST Salvamento Maritimo informed us that they had localised the travellers and were about to carry out the rescue. However, an hour later the relative spoke to the travellers again who were still at sea. When calling Salvamento Maritimo, they refused to give us any information about ongoing search and rescue, until a call at 22.45 CEST where they informed us that their rescue boat would reach the travellers in distress within 10 minutes. At 22.51 CEST we updated the public with another tweet:
The 32 people told their relatives that they spotted a helicopter. #SalvamentoMaritimo informed us more than an hour ago that they have localised the travellers and that rescue is on its way. We hope they will soon be safe!
At 23.54 CEST Salvamento Maritimo confirmed that they had rescued 33 travellers and that they would be brought to Motril. This was afterwards confirmed by the relative who managed to speak directly to the travellers onboard the rescue ship. At 00.17 CEST we closed the case with the following tweet:
We just learned from #SalvamentoMaritimo that the travellers have been rescued and will be taken to Motril. We are very happy and relieved to know that they are no longer in distress, and hope they will find safety in #Europe.