Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 23rd of March 2021

Case name: 2021_03_23-WM571

Situation: 10 men start from Al Hoceima towards Motril. Relatives lose contact. Rescue to Motril by SM.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On the 23rd of March 2021 at 21:45h CET, the Alarm Phone hotline was called by a friend of a group of seven men (later it turned out they were ten
people). According to the caller, they had left at 08:00h CET from Al Hoceima, Morocco, in the direction of Motril, Spain. There were no news from the travelers since they left, and there was no phone number from the boat. At 22:11h CET, our shift team informed the Spanish Search and Rescue organization Salvamento Marítimo (SM) in Almería. They took our information, but
said that they could not give us any information about possibly matching rescues. We should call the Maritime Rescue Coordination
Centre (MRCC) in Rabat or the Spanish Guardia Civil. They also denied us the information if there were rescue assets out at sea at that
moment. At 22:20h CET, we called SM Madrid and asked for information about the missing boat. They did not have news. They stated not to
have found a boat carrying seven travelers. During the night, there were no news. The next morning (24th of March) at 07:26h CET, our shift team learned from the friend who had informed the Alarm Phone, that a relative of one of the travelers had heard of their rescue. But the information was not confirmed. At 07:33h CET, we learned that a relative was in direct contact with the travelers and the ten people were just arriving to Motril with SM.