06/07: 16 people started from Abu Kammash and were rescued by the so-called Libyan coast guard

07.07.2021 / 10:09 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 6th of July 2021

Case name: 2021_07_06-CM498

Situation: 16 people, all men, started from Abu Kammash and were rescued by the so-called Libyan coast guard.

Status of WTM Investigation: concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On the 6th of July 2021 at 04:31 CEST the Alarm Phone received a call from a worried relative. The person on the phone told the shift team about a black zodiak which left from Abu Kammash at 23:00 CEST on 5th July. The person has been recently on the phone with the 16 travellers and told about a broken engine and that water was entering the boat. The shift team couldn’t reach the provided telephone number. At 05:13 CEST we informed the Italian and Maltese coast guard, the so-called Libyan coast guard and the NGOs Sea-Watch and Pilote Volontaires. Via the relative we could receive a GPS position at 08:55 CEST which we relayed to the competent actors at 09:13 CEST. We estimated the situation as urgent and tried to contact the so-called Libyan coast guard via different channels without clear outcome. We tweeted at 10:30 CEST and 11:25 CEST. At 12:00 CEST we reached the so-called Libyan coast guard who confirmed a rescue of 16 people taking them at the moment to Tripoli.

Tweets about the case:

6th July, 10:30 CEST https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1412328121802633218

6th July, 11:35 CEST https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1412341455876677634

6th July, 20:11 CEST https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1412474207938695176

Last update: 16:59 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