10/06: 15 people started from Sabratha and were intercepted by the so-called Libyan coast guard

11.06.2021 / 10:17 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 10th of June 2021

Case name: 2021_06_10-CM458

Situation: 15 people, among them 8 men, 2 women, 5 children and 1 baby, started from Sabratha and were intercepted by the so-called Libyan coast guard.

Status of WTM Investigation: concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On the 10th of June 2021 at 11:39 CEST the Alarm Phone received a call from a satellite phone. According to the travellers they were 15 persons onboard (8 men, 2 women, 5 children and one baby) a white fiber boat. They started on that day at 04:00 CEST from Sabratha and were all Libyan nationalities. They transferred a GPS position to the Alarm Phone and asked for help as water was entering the boat. We informed the following authorities at 12:20 CEST via email: Italian and Maltese coast guard, so-called Libyan coast guard. We also informed the NGOs Sea-Watch and Pilote Volontaires and the NGO rescue vessel Geo Barents. The last contact to the travellers were at 15:01 CEST were they stated to be drifting and no other vessel were visible. 2 hours later we spoke to the so-called Libyan coast guard. The officer confirmed the interception of 15 people, all Libyans, by the vessel ZAWIA.

Last update: 10:30 Dec 23, 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