23/11: 26 travellers rescued to Fuertaventura

24.11.2020 / 09:58 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – November 23rd 2020
Case name: 20201123-WM532
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 26 travellers leaving from Laayoune, finally rescued and brought to Fuerteventura.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary
On Monday the 23rd of November at 14.34 CET, the Alarm Phone shift team received a call from a relative alerting us to a boat on the way to the Canary Islands. There were 26 travellers on board, and they had left the previous day from Laayoune at around 03.00, heading towards Fuerteventura. The relative had last had contact to the travellers an hour after they departed, and was not able to reach them since. Therefore, the relative was worried that the travellers had encountered difficulties on their journey. Our shift team did also never manage to establish direct contact to the travellers.
We were informed by the relative that the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo was already informed of the case and searching for the boat. At 16.40 CET we called Salvamento Maritimo who seemed very busy, and passed on the information we had. We also forwarded the information to the Guardia Civil who confirmed that they were searching for the boat. In the evening at 21.09 CET, Salvamento Maritimo called our shift team and informed us that they had rescued a boat matching the description of this case. The travellers had been taken to Gran Tarajal, Fuerteventura. It was not possible to reach the travellers to obtain a final confirmation of their safe arrival.

Last update: 10:29 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