Alarm Phone alerted to three hundred travellers in distress in the Central Med‬‬

05.09.2015 / 12:25 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 4th of September 2015
Case name: 2015_09_04-CM44
Situation: Three hundred travellers in distress in the Central Med
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:: On Friday, the 4th of September 2015‪, the Alarm Phone received a message from father Mussie Zerai who passed on a phone number of travellers in distress. After several attempts, we finally managed to reach the boat at 12pm. The communication with the travellers was difficult but we understood that they were about 300 persons, including women and children and that they were in an emergency situation. We explained to them how to find out about their GPS position. A couple of minutes later they sent us their position, which showed them in in the Eastern waters of the Central Mediterranean Sea, between Khoms and Misrata. They also informed us that their engine had stopped working. We called the Italian coastguard and asked them for help. However, they said that they had no rescue boat in the area. We tried to call back the travellers, but could not reach them anymore. We observed that their satellite credit went down, so we knew that they were using their phone. At 4pm we called the Italian coastguard in Rome again - they refused to give us any information about the case. ‬‬‬‬‬Unfortunately we could not obtain any final confirmation of rescue.

Last update: 08:55 Sep 16, 2015

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