25/07: 50 people in distress in Maltese SAR, rescued and brought to Malta.

26.07.2021 / 16:41 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 25th July 2021

Case name: 2021_07_25-CM514

Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 50 people in distress in Maltese SAR, after almost 24 hours we learned that they were rescued to Malta.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the case: In the evening of Sunday the 25th of July 2021, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted to a group of 50 travellers, including six women, four children and several teenagers, in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea. The travellers had left around 30 hours previously from Al Khums, Libya, on a white fiberglass boat. They told us that their engine had stopped working and they had run out of fuel, leaving them adrift. From the position they gave us, we could see that they were within the Maltese search and rescue zone At 17.19 CEST we sent an email alerting all relevant rescue authorities to the distress of the travellers, forwarding them their phone number and exact GPS position. In addition, we tried to call the Maltese coastguard but we were not able to reach them. At 17:55 CEST we tweeted: ~50 people in distress in Malta SAR!
The boat is drifting and they left Khoms two days ago, they have no more fuel, no water & no food. Several people have severe injuries from shots received when they were reaching #Libya.
They need immediate rescue! @ArmedForcesMT, act now!

We tried to stay in contact with the boat, but this was difficult due to a bad connection. However, at 19.27 CEST we managed to forward an updated position to all authorities alerted. The Maltese coastguard never responded to our emails, but the following day in the afternoon we learned that the travellers had been rescued and brought to Malta. At 15.00 CEST we tweeted: According to @Newsbook_com_mt, the ~50 people who called us when in distress at sea were rescued to #Malta by @Armed_Forces_MT. Again the rescue of people is treated as a state secret instead of transparently coordinating search & rescue missions with the #CivilFleet.

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