Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations - 5th February 2020
Case name: 2020_02_05- WM450
Situation: Two groups of 44 and 42 travelers in distress towards the Canary Islands, rescued to Spain.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

On the 5th of February the Alarm Phone was alerted by relatives to two boats on their way to the Canary Islands. In both cases we were never able to reach the travellers directly, but obtained confirmations from the relatives that both boats had arrived to Spain.

At 10:05pm CET the Alarm Phone was alerted by friends of travelers to a boat in distress with 44 people, including 15 women and 4 children who have left Boujdour at 5am the previous day. We were unable to get in touch with anyone on the boat. On the following day at 7:16pm we were informed by a relative that they had arrived to the Canary Islands on the 6th of February at 1:00pm. We tried to get a confirmation from the MRCC Las Palmas, however they were not aware of any arrivals. We also called the Centro de Coordination Regional de Canarias who assumed that the boat was one of the arrivals from the previous day, however the numbers of the people were not matching. We still haven't received a confirmation from the people themselves however their friends have confirmed their arrival to Spain.


At 4:20pm CET the Alarm Phone was altered to a boat in distress with 42 travelers who left from Layyoun at 3:00pm the previous day. For a long time we could not reach anyone on the boat. The following day at 17:50pm we call MRCC Las Palmas to ask if they had received any information about the arrival of this boat, however without success. On the 7th of February at 12:44pm friends of the travelers confirmed that they arrived yesterday afternoon, however they did not know to which island. At 2:25pm MRCC Las Palmas informed us that they were doing a SAR operation, but they were not aware of any arrivals. Unfortunately we were not able to receive a confirmation from the travelers themselves.