Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 05th July 2021
Case name: 2021_07_05-CM495
Situation: 10 men left from north of Tunis. Arrival to Sicily confirmed by the parents of a person on board.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:
On the 5th of July 2021 at 13h07 CEST, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boat in distress by a worried relative. According to them, there were around 10 men on board who had left from north of Tunis in the morning of the 3rd July. They were drifting, because the engine was not working anymore. They passed us the phone number of the travelers, and we managed to talk to them on the phone, but communication was difficult. At 14h00 CEST, we passed all information to the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) by e-mail and phone call. During the afternoon, the Italian authorities did not confirm to launch a search mission for the travelers, stating they needed the GPS location first. We sent them an update on the situation at 18h43 CEST, after we had learned from family members that the travelers were heading towards Sicily, and not towards Sardinia, as we had been told first. During the night, we received several calls from worried family members, searching for their loved ones. Our shift teams tried to find out what had happened to the people, as the contact had broken off for hours. We called the coast guard of Mazara del Vallo (Sicily) who referred us to the police office of Mazara, who did not know of any rescues. The next morning (6th July), we called the Guardia Costiera of Mazara del Vallo, and after several attempts, they confirmed a rescue which could possibly be our case, but refused to pass us details. In the afternoon, we were informed by the parents of one of the travelers that they were safe on Sicily.

Twitter chronology:

04.07.2021, 17h10 CEST
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1411704062215659523

08.07.2021, 10h50 CEST
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1413058013859024897