19/08: Alarm Phone alerted to 105 travellers in distress in Central Med, rescued by MSF

20.08.2016 / 15:06 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 19th of August 2016

Case name: 2016_08_19-CM77
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 105 travellers in distress in Central Med, rescued by MSF’s rescue vessel DIGNITY I
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Friday, the 19th of August 2016 at 8.40am, Father Mussie Zerai informed the Alarm Phone about a boat in distress with 105 travellers on board, who had started from Libya. He forwarded a GPS position 30 kilometers northeast of Al-Khums/Libya to us and stated that he had already alerted the Italian and Maltese coastguard. At 9.35am, we observed that Médecins Sans Frontières’ rescue vessel DIGNITY I was positioned in vicinity, thus we wrote an email to them. 10 minutes later, Mussie Zerai informed us that the DIGNITY I was already on its way to the travellers in distress and also forwarded their Thuraya satellite phone number to us. We checked the credit of the phone, it was still charged with 13 units. At 10.15am, the crew of the DIGNITY I wrote to us that they had been alerted to the boat by the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome. We forwarded the Thuraya phone number to them, in order to enable them to contact the travellers directly. At 10.20am, we recharged their phone with 10 units. At 10.30am, we decided to leave the direct contact to the boat to the crew of the DIGNITY I. According to vesselfinder.com, the rescue vessel was about 60 kilometers away from the GPS position we had received 2 hours earlier. At 10.45am, we observed, that the Thuraya phone’s credit had remained constant. At 1pm, we asked the crew of DIGNITY I for an update, but did not receive an answer. At 2.30pm, the Thuraya’s credit went down to 3 units, thus we recharged it with further 10 units. At 3.15pm, we observed on marinetraffic.com that the DIGNITY I had stopped at a position about 40 kilometers away from the position we had been initially provided with by Mussie Zerai. Until 3.45pm, the credit of the travellers’ Thuraya phone remained stable. Finally, at 4pm, the crew of the DIGNITY I confirmed to us via WhatsApp that the rescue of the travellers in distress has successfully been accomplished. We immediately forwarded this good news to Father Mussie Zerai.
Last update: 20:34 Aug 23, 2016
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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