12/07: 3 traveller rescued in the Strait of Gibraltar

13.07.2021 / 08:06 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 12th July 2021
Case name: 2021_07_12-WM644
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to three travellers in distress in the Strait of Gibraltar, all rescued.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean
Summary On Monday the 12th of July 2021 in the early hours of the morning, the Alarm Phone shift team was called by a group of three travellers in urgent distress in the Strait of Gibraltar. As the travellers were panicking, it was very hard to establish a proper communication with them, but we managed to receive their GPS position which we immediately forwarded to the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo. At 05.51 CEST we received an email from Salvamento Maritimo, informing us that they had rescued three travellers who were found swimming close to the position we had provided them with.
We tried contacting the travellers all day, but only the following morning were we able to confirm that the travellers who contacted us had been rescued and were all safe. However, we were not able to establish whether they were back in Morocco or had made it to Spain.

Last update: 18:01 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