Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 28th of July 2016

Case name: 2016_07_28-WM110
Situation: 4 boats intercepted by Moroccan Marine Royale; Alarm Phone in direct contact with one of them
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea


Summary of the Cases: On Thursday, the 28th of July 2016 at 6.58am, the Alarm Phone was informed by a contact person in Morocco about 10 persons who had left towards the Spanish enclave Ceuta at 4am. We were told that their boat had disappeared. At 7.01am, we called Salvamento Marítimo (S.M.) in Tarifa/Spain and forwarded all information we had received, including the phone number of the travellers on board of the boat in distress. At 7.10am, we talked to S.M. again and were told that they had started a rescue operation. At 7.16am, we tried to call the phone number on board of the boat, but although the phone was ringing, nobody picked the call. At 7.20am, we sent an SMS in French, informing about the Alarm Phone and that we had alerted the Spanish rescue agency Salvamento Marítimo. At 7.25am, we were provided with another number of the travellers on board the boat in distress. We were told that they had left Casiago/Morocco at 4am Moroccan time. We told them that a rescue operation had already been initiated. At 7.32am, we called S.M. in Tarifa again and forwarded the new details we had received. At 7.35am, we observed on vesselfinder.com that the rescue vessel GUARDAMAR C.ARENAL that left from Ceuta/Spain 15 minutes earlier, going first to the East and then to the South. At 7.46am, we wrote an email to S.M., UNHCR and CEAR, forwarding all the information we had received so far. At 7.50am, we were able to speak directly to one of the travellers in distress. We were told that they had left precisely at 2 am Moroccan time from a beach not far from Ceuta. There had been 3 boats in total, 2 of them in a situation of distress. On the boat of the traveller we spoke to were 10 people, and 8 on another one. They were not equipped with an engine, but only with paddles. At 7.59am, we called S.M. again and provided them with an update. We were told that they were aware of the three boats. They were already searching for them with one vessel of S.M., one vessel of the Guardia Civil and several vessels of the Moroccan Marine. But up to then they had not found the boats in distress. At 8.08am, we observed on vesselfinder.com that the rescue vessel GUARDAMAR C.ARENAL was still searching along the coast. At 8.30am, we talked again to the travellers on board of one of the boats in distress. They were calm and informed us that they had headed directly to the open sea and not along the coast, but that they were still able to see the coast in far distance. However, they did not see any rescue vessels. Beyond that, they had lost sight of the other boats they had left together with. At 8.44am, we observed on vesselfinder.com that the rescue vessel GUARDAMAR C.ARENAL was returning to the port of Ceuta. At 8.45am, we called the travellers again. They were happy, because they had spotted two rescue vessels approaching them. We asked them to stay calm and seated, in order not to overturn the boat. At 8.51am, the phone of the travellers was switched off. In the following hour, we observed the movements of the Spanish rescue vessel, which was still searching along the coast. At 9.15am, we talked to S.M. in Tarifa, but were not provided with any news. At 10.15am, we called S.M. again and were informed that two boats had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine. The third boat was still missing and S.M. continued to search it. At 11.40am, we reached the travellers again and learned that they were fine, but that they had been intercepted and brought to a police station near Fnideq, close to Ceuta, but on Moroccan territory. Afterwards, the phone connection broke down.
In another call at 11.46am, the travellers told us that they had departed with 4 boats and 34 travellers in total, but that the Moroccan Marine Royal had intercepted all of them. However, they were very relieved that they had been rescued. Beyond that, we were told that one of the boats, with 7 people on board, had observed the rescue vessel of S.M. approaching them, but that it had finally disappeared as the Moroccan vessel came and performed the interception. At about noon, we talked again to S.M. who confirmed to us that all 4 boats had been intercepted by Moroccan vessels. Afterwards, we alerted a contact person in Morocco, in order to establish contact with the travellers and to follow up on the question of where they had been intercepted. Ten minutes afterwards, we tried to inform both initial contact persons, but were not able to reach them. We continued to do so in the next hour, but were not successful. At 7.45pm in the evening, we talked to another person, who had been able to talk to the travellers. They are telling that they had been in international water when they had been intercepted. However, as two of their boats had been extremely rotten and all of them had been in urgent need of help, they were very happy that they had been rescued by whomever.