Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 17th May 2021
Case name: 2021_05_17-WM611
Situation: Alarm Phone in contact with four travellers in urgent distress in the Strait of Gibraltar. Finally, they were intercepted by the Moroccan navy.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean
Summary of case:
On Monday the 17th of May at 17.00 CEST, the Alarm Phone shift team received a direct call from a boat in distress in the Strait of Gibraltar. On the boat were four men who had left from Tangier at around noon the same day on a blue rubber boat without an engine, only with ores. Due to bad connection it took us several calls to understand all information from the travellers and receive their GPS position. At 18.25 we called the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo and forwarded all the information we had. In the meantime we remained in contact with the travellers who informed us about their ongoing distress. At 19.45 CEST we called Salvamento Maritimo again and were told that they needed an updated position. We managed to receive this only a few minutes later, and forwarded it immediately to Salvamento Maritimo. At 21.27 CEST we received a new position from the travellers, which we again forwarded directly to Salvamento Maritimo.
At 23.17 CEST a relative forwarded us a position of the travellers, together with the information that they were in urgent need of rescue as the boat had a puncture and water was entering the boat. At 23.20 CEST we forwarded this information to Salvamento Maritimo who told us that they were taking care of the case. At 23.28 CEST the relative informed us that the boat had been intercepted by the Moroccan navy and was being brought back to Morocco.