29/07 Nine boats in distress in the Western Mediterranean, 1 rescued to Spain, 7 returned to Morocco, 1 unverified

30.07.2018 / 17:30 / Western Mediterranean, Morocco/Spain

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 29th of July 2018

Case name: 2018_07_29-WM300
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to several emergency situations in the Western Med
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Sunday, the 29th of July 2018, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 9 boats in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea. 1 boat was rescued to Spain, 7 returned to Morocco. For 1 boat we have no further information.

Boat 1: At 7am CEST, a contact person informed us about a boat carrying 12 people that had left from Achakar/Morocco. The contact person had lost contact to the boat several hours earlier. We tried to reach the boat but were unable to reach them. We called the Moroccan authorities to enquire whether this boat had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy and returned to Morocco. They had no information about this boat. We later learned that the people had returned independently to Morocco, after having spent nearly two full days at sea.

Boat 2: At around the same time, we received information via a contact person about a second boat in distress, carrying 11 people, including 1 woman. At 9.45am we informed the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo (SM) to the case. In the evening we learned that the people had been unable to continue and returned to Morocco by themselves.

Boat 3: At 8.39am we received a call from 11 people, including 2 women, in distress. The call was interrupted and when we spoke to them again at 8.57am, they informed us that they had left from Achakar/Morocco during the night. We then lost contact to them and were unable to retrieve a GPS position. We cannot verify what happened to this boat.

Boat 4: At 11.18am, we were informed via a contact person about a boat in distress, carrying 2 people. They had left from Tangier. At 1.03pm we were able to speak to them and they said that they had difficulties with strong currents. At 1.10pm we received their GPS coordinates which we passed on to SM. We later were informed by the contact person that the people had returned to Morocco.

Boats 5 and 6: At 11.40am, we were informed by a contact person to two boats in distress that had left from Achakar. One carried 7 people, the other one 11, including 2 women. The people on the first boat informed us at about 1pm that they could see a cargo vessel nearby. We informed SM about these boats. In the afternoon we were informed that the boat with 11 people had returned to Morocco by themselves and in the evening we received the confirmation that also the boat with 7 people had returned to Morocco.

Boat 7: At 11.58am, we were informed about a boat in distress carrying an unverified number of people. For several hours we could not reach the travellers directly. At 1.53pm we reached them and a man confirmed that they had been rescued to Spain.

Boat 8: At 2.46pm, we were informed via a contact person to a boat in distress carrying 9 people. They had left from Achakar. We informed SM at 3.50pm. Their boat had a leak and water was coming in. We later received the information that they were returned to Morocco by the Moroccan Navy.

Boat 9: At 10.17pm, we were informed by a contact person to a boat in distress, carrying 9 people, including 1 woman and 1 child. They had left from Tangier. We informed SM to the case. At 11.08pm we learned that they had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy. We sent an update to SM.

Last update: 13:16 Aug 14, 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