14/12: Estimated 30 people, including one woman, rescued to Almería

15.12.2020 / 09:43 / Western Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – December 14th 2020
Case name: 2020_12_14-WM537
Situation: 30 people in distress between Nador and Almería, rescued to Almería
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the case
In the afternoon of December 14th Alarm Phone received a distress call from a boat which left Nador in the direction of Almería carring 28-30 people inlcuding one woman. At the time of the alert people on the boat had lost all orientation. We forwarded the information to authorities at 15.05 CET, who confirmed they already had knowledge of this case. At 15.20 CET we called authorities for an update. The operator related our e-mail had not yet arrived and informed us the boat had previously called authorities. The operator asked for details of what people on the boat were able to see, as well as the colour of the boat – information with which, according to the operator, police could find the boat with cameras. At 16.00 CET people on the boat called us but the connection was too bad to understand. We lost contact to the boat thereafter. At 18.34 CET we called authorities for an update. The operator informed us that Sálvamento Marítimo had started to search for the boat by helicopter. At 21.45 CET media reports suggested that the boat was found and people rescued. A call to authorities confirmed our assumption.

Last update: 18:31 Apr 26, 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