Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of March 2016

Case name: 2016_03_22-WM87
Situation: Alarm Phone called by 16 people on rubber boat, intercepted by Moroccan Marine Royal
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday the 22nd of March 2016 at 4.33am, the Alarm Phone was directly called from a boat in the Western Mediterranean Sea, which had left from Tanger Med/Morocco about one hour earlier. We were told that there were 4 women, 10 men and 2 children on board and that they were paddling with a rubber boat in the direction of Spain. They asked us to help them and to call the Spanish coastguard Salvamento Maritimo, however they also told us that they were not in distress right now. We decided not to call the Salvamento Maritimo immediately, as the travellers’ boat had certainly not yet arrived in Spanih territorial waters. Between 4.40am and 5.10am we tried to call the travellers back every ten minutes, but did not reach them. Finally, at 5.15am we were again able to speak to them again. We tried to find out if they were in distress and if we should alert the Spanish coastguard. Due to difficult communication we decided to ask a French-speaking member of the Alarm Phone to call them back. At 5.38am this person wrote to us that she was not able to speak to the travellers yet. However, at 5.48am, she reached the people and was told that the Moroccan Marine Royal had intercepted the group.