05/07: 93 people started from Zuwara and were intercepted by the so-called Libyan coast guard

06.07.2021 / 10:04 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 5th of July 2021

Case name: 2021_07_05-CM496

Situation: 93 people, among them 57 men, 25 women – 10 of them pregnant and 10 babies and children, started from Zuwara 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 5th of July 2021 at 17:19 CEST the Alarm Phone received a call from a worried relative. The person on the phone told the shift team about a boat which left from Zuwara last night. The boat was a black rubber boat with 85 people onboard (50 men, 25 women among them 10 pregant women and 10 babies and children). The relative got a GPS position from the travellers in the morning. As he cannot reach them anymore he alerted the Alarm Phone. At 18:19 CEST we relayed the information and GPS position to Italian and Maltese coast guard, to the so-called Libyan coast guard and the NGOs Sea-Watch and Pilote Volontaires. Later we phoned with the so-called Libyan coast guard who confirmed that 93 migrants were rescued/intercepted close to the given GPS position.

Last update: 16:50 Jan 30, 2022

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