09/09: 12 travellers rescued to Motril by Salvamento Maritimo

10.09.2022 / 12:42 / Western Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 9th September 2022

Case name: 2022_09_09-WM049

Situation: 12 travellers in distress in the Alboran Sea, rescued by Salvamento Maritimo and brought to Motril.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the case: On Friday the 9th of September 2022, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to a group of 12 travellers, all men, in distress in the Alboran Sea. The travellers had left from Al Hoceima the same morning on a green wooden boat, heading towards Motril. We were not able to reach the travellers, but immediately relayed all the information we had to the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo. In the late evening the relative managed to speak to the boat and informed us that they were almost out of fuel and gave us their GPS position. In addition, we were told that one person onboard suffered from leukemia. We forwarded this information to Salvamento Maritimo. In the late evening, Salvamento Maritimo confirmed to us that they were searching for the boat. At 01.30 the following morning we managed, for the first time, to reach the travellers who were still at sea. The connection was very poor and it was not possible to get their GPS position. We informed Salvamento Maritimo, and they confirmed that they were approaching the boat and would soon carry out the rescue operation. A few hours later, Salvamento Maritimo confirmed that the travellers had been rescued and would be brought to Motril.

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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