14/03 10 people left from Morocco, rescued by Marine Royale, but one person went missing

15.03.2018 / 10:13 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations - 14th of March 2018

Case name: 2018_03_14-WM210
Situation: 10 people left from Morocco, rescued by Marine Royale, but one person went missing
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Wednesday the 14th of March 2018 at 6.41am, a contact person alerted the Alarm Phone to a boat in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea, with 10 people on board. They had left from a beach close to Tangier/Morocco at around 3am. He forwarded two phone numbers to us and we immediately tried to get in touch with them, but without success. At 7.28am, the contact person informed us that he had also lost the contact to the travellers. Thus, we called the Spanish rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo (S.M.) at 7.35am, who told us that they were already informed about the boat in distress and were searching for it. Yet, at 7.38am, the contact person wrote to us that the boat had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine Royale in the meantime. We informed S.M. accordingly, and, at 7.55am, we learned from the contact person that one person went missing during the rescue operation of the Moroccan Marine Royale.

Last update: 20:56 Mar 19, 2018

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