12/11: Travellers in distress in the Central Mediterranean, rescued to Italy

13.11.2016 / 13:22 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 12th of November 2016

Case name: 2016_11_12-CM90
Situation: 200 travellers in distress between Libya and Italy rescued
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Saturday, the 12th of November 2016 at 6.11am, Father Mussie Zerai alerted the Alarm Phone to a boat in distress in the Central Med, forwarding us their satellite phone number and their approximate position. The vessel was a zodiac carrying 200 travellers. Our shift team was not able to establish contact to the travellers, and by monitoring the credit of their Thuraya phone, we could see that they were also not in contact with anyone else. At 8.40am we called the Italian coast guard and passed on all the information we had. It remained impossible to reach the travellers, but at 3.10pm we got a confirmation from the Italian coast guard that a rescued operation of the vessel was ongoing. They further informed us that so far this day, seven rescue operations had been carried out with assistance from several civil actors, rescuing a total of 1400 travellers.

Last update: 13:38 Nov 24, 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