12 people in distress in the Western Med, intercepted by Morocco

10.09.2015 / 06:41 / Western Mediterranean Sea, Morocco

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation, 9th of September 2015

Case name: 2015_09_09-WM52
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to a group in distress in the Western Med
Status of WTM Investigations: Concluded
Place of Incidents: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Wednesday the 9th of September 2015, the shift team of the Alarm Phone was contacted at about 2pm by a woman who was part of a group of 12 people who had left Morocco about an hour and a half earlier and were now in distress at sea. We quickly informed the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo and also forwarded details about the case to the UNHCR. At 2.15pm we were able to speak to the travellers again – they were clearly very anxious and calling out for help. In the following 15 minutes, we spoke to them repeatedly, trying to obtain further information and also trying to reassure them that help was underway. At 2.32pm, Salvamento Maritimo confirmed that they had contacted the travellers directly and had sent out a rescue vessel. Then, for some time, we could not reach the travellers again until 3.40pm when they confirmed that their vessel had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy. They were back in Morocco.

Last update: 08:57 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