09/10: Boat with 55 travellers missing in the Atlantic Ocean

10.10.2023 / 14:07 / Atlantic Ocean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 9th of October 2023
Case name: 2023_10_09-ATL064
Situation: A group of 55 travellers went missing after it left Tan Tan, Morocco.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Atlantic Ocean

Summary of the Case: In the evening of the 09th of October 2023, the Alarm Phone shift team got alerted by a relative to a group of travellers in distress in the Atlantic Ocean. The group of 55 people left Tan Tan on the 08th October at around 04:30 CEST in a black zodiac and, according to the relatives, lost their phone and could thus not be reached. The shift team still alerted the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo. Throughout the following days, the shift teams contacted Spanish and Moroccan rescue authorities but neither of them could confirm the rescue of said boat, also because there had been multiple arrivals and rescues ongoing. The fate of these 55 travellers is still unknown - we hope with all our heart that they are among those who have arrived on the Canary Islands at this time and wish their relatives clarity about the fate of their loved ones as soon as possible.

Tweets about this case: https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1712039868577005963?t=RdtvRIoeJgh2R-hWp_pqZA&s=09

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