03/11: 25 people left Al Hoceima, arrived in Spain on their own

04.11.2020 / 16:10 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 3rd of November 2020

Case name: 20201103-WM520

Situation: 25 travellers started from Al Hoceima, reached Spain

Status of WTM Investigation: concluded

Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:

On 3rd of November 2020 the Alarm Phone was called around midday by a relative who lost contact to her family and therefor was worried. The person gave the following details: The travellers left the day before from Al Hoceima in a grey or black zodiac. They were 25 persons, among them one young women. The relative asked the Alarm Phone to call Salvamento Maritimo (SM). At 12h CET the shift team contacted SM Almeria who had no information about a rescue in the area. They advised to call SM Madrid or Guardia Civil. The shift team also called MRCC Rabat who said to ask around for information.

At 14:37h alerting news came in: A ship wreck near Al Hoceima happened. Two boats returned and people lost their lives. It wasn’t possible to reach authorities to ask about more details. At 17:52h SM Madrid was called. They had no information about a call from people who left Al Hoceima. The whole evening the Alarm Phone tried to call MRCC Rabat. At 21:44h the shift team received the information from a family member that all people reached Spain autonomously.

Last update: 16:34 Feb 16, 2021

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