Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 20th of September 2022

Case name: 2022_09_20-ATL109

Situation: 51 travelers in distress at the Atlantic Ocean, picked up by a fishing vessel and returned to TanTan, Morocco

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Atlantic Ocean

Summary of the Case:

On Tuesday the 20th of September 2022, around midnight the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to a group of 51 travelers, including 42 men, 8 women, and 1 baby in distress in the Atlantic Ocean. The travelers had left from TanTan, Morocco in the night from the 18th to the 19th of September on a grey rubber boat heading towards Lanzarote. We were not able to establish a direct contact to the people on boat, neither was the relative. We relayed all the information we had to the Spanish search and rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo via E-Mail and phone call. They received our E-Mail and are having a lot of alerts. Until 10:30 CEST the next day we tried to establish a connection to the travelers but were not able to. That day we found a facebook post about 59 people who arrived autonomous to Lanzarote. Since the number of women and children differed from the information we had and Salvamento Maritimoe did not confirm that information nor relayed any new information to us, we could not match the post to our case. The following day we tried to establish a connection to the travelers and the relative who contacted us but did not reach them. At 15:00 CEST (21th September) we called Salvamento Maritimo to ask about the 51 travelers, but due to a lot of rescue operations they did not share any information with us. During a phone call around 19:30 CEST they told us that they did not rescue a boat with 50 to 60 people. Only the next morning at 09:35 CEST (of the 22nd of September) we learned after calling again Salvamento Maritimo that the 51 travelers had been picked up by a fishing vessel and been returned to TanTan, Morocco.