06/07: 5 boats in distress, all intercepted to Morocco

07.07.2018 / 21:48 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 6th of July 2018

Case name: 2018_07_06-WM278
Situation: 5 boats in distress, all intercepted to Morocco
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Friday, 6th of July, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 5 boats in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea. 4 boats were intercepted the same day, one big convoi of 40 people had been missing for more than 40 hours.


At 6:30am CEST we were alerted to a boat in distress carrying 12 people, among them 2 women. The boat had left from close to Cap Spartel / Morocco at 1:30am local time. In the following hours, we tried to establish a direct connection to the boat. At 1:13pm we reached them. They had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine Royale.

At 7:30am CEST we received information an a second group that had also left from close to Cap Spartel, consisting of 13 people. We tried to call the boat throughout the morning, but only reached them at 12:56am. They informed us that they had been intercepted by the Moroccan Marine Royale.

At 8:20am CEST we were informed about a third group from close to Spartel, consisting of 5 people, that had left towards Spain at 2am local time. At 8:47am we managed to reach the travallers, but the connection was too bad to explain how to send a GPS position. The travellers informed us that their rubber boat was losing air. At 9:34am they informed us that the Moroccan Marine Royale was approaching them. They confirmed the interception at 9:40am.

At 12:10am CEST we received information about 5 travellers in distress that had left from Cap Spartel at 4am local time. At 12:49am we managed to establish a connection to the boat and asked them to send their GPS position. In the following hours we could neither reach the contact person nor the travellers on board. At 3:39am following morning we called Salvamento Marítimo to ask about a case of 5 persons. They didn’t have any information regarding the case. We continued to try to reach the travellers throughout the next day, but couldn’t establish a phone connection any more.

Case 5: At 4:21am CEST a contact person informed us about a convoi of 40 travellers that had left from Assilah towards Spain at 11pm local time the night before. Among the group were 10 women. In the following hours, we tried to find out phone numbers of the travellers and afterwards to reach them directly, but we couldn’t establish a connection to the boat. At 0:40am following morning we called Salvamento Marítimo and passed all information. They mentioned they would already be aware of the case. We then continued to try to call the boat. At 1:12am, we called Salvamento Marítimo again, but they couldn’t provide new information on the case. At 1:34am we managed to reach the travellers and asked for their GPS position. We informed Salvamento that the boat was reachable and passed the phone number that was working. We also sent an email with all relevant information to the respective authorities. At 3:39am we called Salvamento again; they informed us that they were receiving GPS positions from the boat and had passed the information to the Moroccan Marine Royale as the boat was in Moroccan territorial waters. We tried to establish a connection to the boat ourselves, but couldn’t reach any of the phone numbers on board. At 5:02am we called MRCC Rabat. The operator informed us that the navy was searching for the boat. We sent an email to MRCC Rabat to document the alert. At 6:33am we called MRCC Rabat again, but didn’t receive any new information, neither at 7:58am, when we called again. At 8:00am we called Salvamento Marítimo Tarifa, that stated they would not be allowed to enter the Moroccan zone to search the boat. The phone numbers on board remained unreachable. In the following hours we tried to reach friends and relatives of the travellers to find out if anyone had actual information. At 12:45am we called both Moroccan and Spanish authorities but didn’t receive any further information. We started to emphasizes the need for a bigger search and rescue operation on social media.
At 2:48pm MRCC Rabat informed us that the search would still be ongoing. The travellers had been more than 36 hours at sea already, when a contact person informed us he had reached them. He said the had lost orientation. At 4:15pm Helena Maleno from Caminando Fronteras started to alert to the same case on twitter as well. At 5:37pm we called Salvamento Marítimo Tarifa. They informed us that the boat had been localized and they would be on their way to rescue them. In the following hours we tried unsuccessfully to reach the boat. At 8:27pm we called SM Tarifa, that said they would still search for the boat with aerial and naval assets. At 10:27pm they still didn’t have news, neither at 00:50am following morning. At 9:11am we were informed that the travellers had managed to return to the Moroccan shore themselves. They had nevertheless been picked up by the police and were at a police station in critical condition with chemical burns and exhausted from the days at sea. They were released some time later.
Last update: 22:02 Jul 15, 2018
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

Related Reports

13:14 May 13, 2018 / Western Mediterranean Sea Kms
12/05: 3 travellers from Cap Spartel returned to Morocco
19:55 Apr 21, 2015 / Near Cap Spartel, Morocco Kms
12 people caught by Moroccan authorities when trying to reach Europe
16:13 Jan 10, 2019 / Western Mediterranean, Morocco/Spain Kms
09/01: Boat carrying 12 people in distress, returned to Morocco
12:33 Aug 30, 2021 / Western Mediterranean Sea Kms
29/08: 4 travelers left from Tangier towards Tarifa, fate unclear.
18:53 Mar 23, 2018 / Western Mediterranean Sea Kms
22/03: 5 travellers in distress, returned to Morocco