01/06: 75 people from Zuwara arrived on Lampedusa by themselves

02.06.2020 / 12:23 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 1st of June 2020

Case name: 2020_06_01-CM252

Situation: 75 people reached Lampedusa

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:
On the 1st of June around 21h CEST the Alarm Phone got informed about a boat in distress that left Zuwara in Libya at 00:30h the same day. The travellers told us water is entering the boat and gave us their coordinates. They stated to be 75 persons, all men and from African countries and Bangladesh. We wrote an email to the authorities of Malta and Italy at 21:19h as the boat were in Maltese SAR Zone and heading towards Lampedusa. We also phoned both MRCC Rome and RCC Malta, but although we kept them updated regularly with new GPS positions and about the situation on board, no rescue operation were launched throughout the night. At 03:58h CEST on 2nd of June the travellers told us that only one engine is working and afterwards we lost contact. At 06.55h we were able to reestablish contact for the last time and got a new GPS position. The travellers were about 6 hours far from Lampedusa. Also this GPS position were notified to the authorities who left us uninformed about their operations. Around 13:30h we got information from various sources about the arrival of about 75 people who have reached Lampedusa on their own.

Last update: 21:39 Aug 23, 2020

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