12/11: 25 travelers in distress arrived on Tenerife

13.11.2020 / 20:44 / Western Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 14th November 2020

Case name: 2020_11_12_WM523

Situation: 25 travelers in distress arrived on Tenerife

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary

On the 12th of November the Alarmphone was alerted to a boat in distress carrying 25 people, which had left from Dahkla, Morocco early morning on the 7th of November and had been heading to the Canary Islands. At 12:58h CEST we alerted Guardia Civil about the case. They informed us that a boat with 27 people arrived, together with other 2 or 3 boats. Guardia Civil Canaria forwarded us to Salvamento Maritimo, who claimed that there were 3 arrivals, but none of them matched our boat. It was not possible to establish contact with the travelers for days. On the following day we received a confirmation that the boat has arrived from friends of the travelers, however not from the travelers themselves. It was not possible for us to reestablish contact to the travellers, to get a more clear picture of what happened in this case. We are still investigating what exactly happened and will later add to this case report.

Last update: 23:14 Feb 23, 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