Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 12th of June 2018
Case name: 2018_06_12-WM260
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to two distress cases between Morocco and Spain.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday the 12th of June, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted to two boats in distress in the strait of Gibraltar, both of which were rescued by the Moroccan navy.

at 4.10am, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a contact person to a group of 12 travellers in distress in the strait of Gibraltar, forwarding us their phone number. The travellers had left from a beach close to Tangier at around midnight local time. We tried to call several times, but it was not possible to reach the travellers. At 8.55am we called the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo (SM) and alerted them to the distress of the travellers. As SM were very busy, they were not able to give us an update on this specific case. Therefore, at 2pm we called the Moroccan rescue authorities, who confirmed that they had rescued the travellers.

at 4.15am, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a contact person to a group of 12 travellers in distress in the strait of Gibraltar, forwarding us their phone number. We immediately called the travellers, who stressed the urgency of their situation. At 4.50am we called the Moroccan rescue authorities, but they were unwilling to take our information about the travellers. Therefore, at 5.10am we called the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo (SM) asking them to convey the information to the Moroccan authorities. During the following hour we were several times in contact with both the Moroccan and Spanish rescue authorities, forwarding them updated positions from the travellers. At 8.24am the contact person confirmed that the travellers had been rescued by the Moroccan Navy.