14/11: 77 people, including two women and children intercepted by so called Libyan coast guard; 12 people including two women and four children reached Lampedusa.

15.11.2020 / 21:56 / Central Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – November 14th 2020

Case name: 2020_11_14_CM331

Situation: 77 people intercepted by the so called Libyan coast guard, returned to Libya; 12 people arrived safely to Lampedusa

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Position Case 1: 33.98240, 13.75080

Position Case 2: 34.43333, 12.75000

Summary

On November 14th Alarmphone was alerted to two distress cases. One boat carrying 77 people was intercepted to Libya by the so called Libyan coast guard. A second boat carrying 12 people managed to reach Lampedusa.

Summary Case 1

In the morning of November 14th Alarmphone was alerted to a boat in distress carrying around 80people including four women, seven children and four elderly, handicapped persons. At the time of the alert people on the boat were highly agitated and informed us that water was entering their boat; there was no water, food or life vests on board. Communication was difficult; according to the people on board they had been at sea for three days. We managed to receive a GPS position which was forwarded to authorities at 09.23 CET. We tried to contact the so called Libyan coast guard who denied the reception of our e-mail and were unable to relate a working e-mail address to us. When we called authorities in Rome they refused all responsibility for this distress case and told us to “alert the competent authorities”. We repeatedly tried to call the so called Libyan coast guard; our calls remained unanswered. At 11.44 CET and 15.42 CET we received an updated GPS position which was forwarded to authorities and people on the boat informed us they were drifting and a lot of people were dehydrated. At 16.07 CET we managed to reach an operator of the so called Libyan coast guard, who related they had instructed a Libyan vessel to head to the distress case an hour ago. Upon calling the so called Libyan coast guard at 18.05 CET we were informed that 77 people had been intercepted, the description of the boat matching this case and were being brought back to Libya, the very place from which the people had been trying to escape.

Twitter Chronology:

November 14th

10.55 CET https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1327550727636578304

November 15th

10.56 CET https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1327913394586914816

Summary Case 2

In the evening of November 14th Alarmphone received a distress call from a boat carrying 12 people including two women and four children. At the time of the alert the sea was rough and a lot of water had entered the boat. According to the caller the boat had almost run out of fuel and phone battery; there were no life vests on board. We received a GPS position and forwarded it to authorities at 20.57 CET. We continued to receive updated GPS positions which we forwarded to authorities. At 21.45 CET the people in distress informed us they had seen a large ship pass by them ten minutes ago without offering assistance. This was the last call from the people on the boat, after which we lost contact. At 08.21 CET we called authorities in Rome who confirmed the save arrival of the boat to Lampedusa.

Twitter Chronology:

November 14th

23.32 CET https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1327740803054252040

Last update: 06:12 Mar 03, 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