09/02: 2 people in distress in the Strait of Gibraltar rescued to Tarifa, Spain

10.02.2023 / 19:08 / Western Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 09th of February 2023

Case name: 2023_02_09 - Western Med - 006

Situation: 2 people in distress in the Strait of Gibraltar rescued by Salvamento Maritimo to Tarifa, Spain

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Strait of Gibraltar

Summary of the Case:In the morning of Thursday the 9th of February, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to 2 male travelers in distress in the Strait of Gibraltar. The travelers had left from Tanger, Morocco at 02:00 CET that same night. We established a direct contact to the travelers who gave us their current GPS position and asked urgently for help. We relayed all the information we had to the Spanish Search and Rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo via E-Mail. On VesselFinder we observed the rescue vessel “SALVAMAR ARCTURUS” leaving towards the direction of the distress case. About one and a half hour later we learned again through VesselFinder that the rescue vessel had reached approximately the GPS position we received by the travelers before. At 7pm CET we called Salvamento Maritimo who confirmed the rescue of the two people to Tarifa. We forwarded those information to the relative who informed us.

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