Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 03rd of January 2023

Case name: 2023_01_03-WM001

Situation: 11 people in distress in the Alboran Sea, rescued by Salvamento Maritimo to Almeria, Spain

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Alboran Sea

Summary of the Case: In the late afternoon of Tuesday the 3rd of January 2023 the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to a group of 8 to 12 travelers on a blue and white boat in distress in the Alboran Sea, near Almeria. The travelers had left from Algeria in the afternoon the day before (2nd of January 2023). We were not able to establish a direct contact to the travelers. We relayed all the information we had to the Spanish Search and Rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo via e-mail and via phone call. We were called by two other relatives, informing us about the group of travelers.

On Vessel Finder we were able to observe that the rescue vessel “Salvamar Spica” is at sea, at approximately 3 nautic miles from Almeria. It stayed there 1 hour and was heading back to Almeria around 20:00 CEST. We called Salvamento Maritimo about one hour later to find out that they rescued 11 people, including one or two women and one minor on a white blue boat. They shared a phone number as well as a name and some recognizing information about the travelers. In contact with all three relatives we were able to confirm that all 11 travelers had been rescued by Salvamento Maritimo to Almeria, Spain.