Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 7th of February 2016

Case name: 2016_02_07-WM80
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to boat in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea, rescued to Spain
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Sunday the 7th of February 2016, around noon, our Alarm Phone shift team was contacted by someone who told us that his friend was on a vessel that had left from Tangier/Morocco seeking to reach Spain. He didn’t know at what time they had departed but assumed that they had left during the night. He also informed us that the engine of the vessel had broken down. We contacted the boat at 12.15pm and despite difficulties to communicate, we gathered that they had left from Tangier, their engine had stopped working and 2 women on board were sick. When we spoke to them at 12.23pm and it seemed as if water had started to enter their vessel, we quickly reached out to the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo (SM). The Spanish authorities already knew about this case and had launched a rescue operation. Afterwards we were unable to reconnect to the group of travellers. At 1.33pm SM confirmed that they had rescued the group of 8 men, 3 women and one baby near the Moroccan coast and were in the process of bringing them to Tarifa/Spain. All of them were fine health-wise. We then informed our contact person about the good news.