07/12: 55 shipwrecked in Atlantic Ocean due to non-assistance from authorities

08.12.2022 / 11:54 / Atlantic

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 07th of December 2022

Case name: 2022_12_07-ATL138

Situation: 55 shipwrecked off the coast of Tan-tan, Morocco, 3 survivors, the fate of the rest unkown

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Atlantic Ocean

Summary of the Case: On the 7th of December, 2022, the Alarm Phone shift received a call from a group of travelers in distress who reported that they were in desperate need of help, their boat was filling with water, and that they were exhausted. The Alarm Phone immediately notified both the Spanish and Moroccan search and rescue organizations, Salvamento Marítimo and Marine Royale, respectively. Both authorities neglected their duties to initiate rescue operations, despite being given updated positions via the Alarm Phone, which maintained contact with the boat in distress for almost 24 hours. After December 8th, the Alarm Phone lost contact with the boat and continued to pressure authorities to perform a search and rescue mission. On December 20th we learned that there had been a shipwreck with only 3 survivors. At least 50 people are still missing. Our thoughts and solidarity are with the friends and families of those missing, and we once again demand safe passages for all as the only way to avoid these unnecessary deaths at sea.

Tweets:
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1600833644205314049

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