Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 27th September 2024
Case name: 2024_09_27-ATL027
Situation: 48 travellers in distress in the Atlantic, picked up by the Moroccan navy.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Atlantic Ocean

Summary of the case: On Friday the 27th of September 2024, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to a group of 48 travellers, including five women and a baby, in distress in the Atlantic Ocean. The travellers had left from Tan Tan in the evening of the 25th of September on a white rubber boat. We were not able to reach the travellers and did not know their GPS position. However, we immediately alerted the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo, relaying all the information we had. We later managed to reach the travellers. They told us that they had no food and drinking water, that they had run out of fuel and that the weather conditions were getting worse with water entering their boat. We managed to get their GPS position and passed on all the information to Salvamento Maritimo. We stayed in contact with the travellers and relayed updates to Salvamento Maritimo as often as possible. As time passed, we could hear on the phone that the situation deteriorated and that the panic onboard increased. They told us that a pregnant woman onboard was in a critical health condition. We reached out to companies of merchant vessels in the area to try to mobilize the assistance needed. Later, we learned that the travellers had been picked up by the Moroccan navy and returned.
Tweets about the case:
https://x.com/alarm_phone/status/1839919022600585424?t=XwkmNWxX4x_AXEqs3_cICw&s=19
https://x.com/alarm_phone/status/1839908187148800408?t=HzL9CwHntNrBBfnAzfADeQ&s=19