Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 10th of August 2023
Case name: 2023_08_10-WM049
Situation: A boat with 5 travellers is assumed to be rescued to Almeria, Spain.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the Case: On the 10th of August 2023, a relative alerted the Alarmphone to a boat in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea. The Alarmphone shift team could not establish direct contact to the five travellers who had departed from Al Hoceima, Morocco, on the 9th of August in a rubber boat. Still, the shift team alerted the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo to the boat, passing on all the information they had. In the afternoon, the shift team called Salvamento Maritimo and learnt that a Frontex plane had spotted a boat with four people, but it was not clear if it had been the same boat. During the night, a rescue operation was launched and in the morning, the travellers were rescued to Almeria, Spain – it is still not entirely clear whether it is the same boat that the relative alerted the Alarmphone to but we sincerely hope that the five people have arrived in Spain safely.