01/08: 89 people in distress in Maltese SAR zone, rescued to Italy

02.08.2021 / 19:08 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – August 1st 2021

Case name: 2021_08_01-CM522
Situation: 89 men drifting South-East of Italy in Maltese SAR zone, rescued by Italian coast guard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of Case
In the evening of August 1st Alarm Phone was called by a relative who alerted us to a group of around 89 people in a wooden boat who had departed Lybia some 24hours previously. The relative related an GPS position. We forwarded the alert to authorities at 22.46 CEST. We continually tried to establish direct contact to the people in distress via the number the relatie provided but communication proved difficult. At 01.15 CEST August 2nd the relative relayed an updated GPS position which we forwarded to authorities. At 05.05 CEST the boat called us, highlighting the direty of their situation and urgently requesting assistance. We passed updated GPS positions to authorities throughout the morning and early afternoon. At 13.50 the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Malta informed us that MRCC Rome had sent three SAR vessels to the area since there were several distress calls from the vicinity of the 82 people. At 19.37 CEST we learnt that the 89 people had received first assistance by Sea Watch 3 and where finally rescued by a vessel of the Italian coast guard.

Tweets:
August 2nd
07.37 CEST https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1422068963698216961
11.02 CEST https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1422120302557941763
16.11 CEST https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1422198034763554819
August 3rd
12.09 CEST https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1422499564435746817?s=08

Last update: 19:23 Feb 22, 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