14/07: Boat from Tangier intercepted by Moroccan Navy

15.07.2016 / 20:13 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations –14th of July 2016
Case name: 2016_07_14-WM108
Situation: Boat from Tangier intercepted by Moroccan Navy
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Thursday the 14th of July 2016, at 08.32am, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a distress case involving seven persons, including one who was ill, travelling between Tangier and Tarifa. The boat left from a beach near Tangier at around 3.30 am local time. The travellers informed us that the sea was rough and that water was entering the boat. The connection broke off and it was not possible to establish a connection again. At 9.22 am, we informed the Spanish Search and Rescue Agency Salvamento Maritimo (S.M.) by phone and email. At 9.58 am, MRCC Madrid informed us that they forwarded our email to MRCC Rabat. At 10.24 am we called S.M. again to ask if there were any news about the case. At this point they were almost sure that the boat had been rescued by the Moroccan Navy, but could not confirm this, as they could not reach the MRCC Rabat. At 11.59 when we called S.M. again, they still had not managed to reach MRCC Rabat, but informed us that the Moroccan Navy had conducted several operations in the area that morning. As we still did not manage to reach the travellers we contacted local activists at 4.50 pm. They did not manage to reach the travellers either, but assumed that they were being held at the police station. At 9.30 pm we called back S.M. and they confirmed that 7 travellers had been rescued by the Moroccan Navy.

Last update: 14:13 Aug 26, 2016

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