16/11: 27 people rescued to the Canaries

17.11.2020 / 17:09 / Western Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 16th of November 2020
Case name: 2019_11_16-WM529
Situation: 27 men leave Dahkla and are rescued to the Canary Islands
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:
At 20:15h CET on 16 November we were alerted by a relative to a group of 27 men who had
left Dahkla at 02:00h two days previously. They were heading for the Canary Islands. The group were mainly from the Maghreb, but included two people from Bangladesh. As there had been no news of the travelers for two days, we immediately called the Spanish search and rescue organisation, Salvamento Maritimo. The coastguard were already involved in the rescue of five boats, but they took the information and asked us to follow up with an email. We duly sent them the information electronically.

Overnight, we were not able to get any more information about the boat, but the next
morning the Salvamento Maritimo wrote to us to say that they had rescued a boat of 27 men. They describe them as being from the
Maghreb. We asked for clarification about the Bangladeshis, but before we received a response, our contact got in touch to let us
know that the travelers had arrived safely. Boza, welcome to Europe.

Last update: 17:16 Mar 02, 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