26/10: 4 boats: 2 boats rescued to Spain; 1 boat intercepted by Marine Royale; 1 boat rescued to Spain but 1 baby died

27.10.2018 / 23:06 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 26th of October 2018
Case name: 2018_10_26-WM346
Situation: 4 boats: 2 boats rescued to Spain; 1 boat intercepted by Marine Royale; 1 boat rescued to Spain but 1 baby died

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On October 26th, 2018, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted to four cases of distress. Three boats were eventually rescued to Spain, but a small baby died in the second case. One boat was intercepted and brought back to Morocco by the Marine Royale

At 2.46am, the shift team was alerted to a boat of 7 people including 1 pregnant woman who left from a beach close to Tangier. The shift team alerted Salvamiento Maritimo to the case, including the fact that the pregnant woman had health problems and needed urgent rescue. The shift team maintained contact with the coast guard and the boat for seeral hours. At 7.21am, rescue of the boat to Spain was confirmed.

At 5.25am the shift team received news of a boat that left around Tangier with 8 people. The shift team remained in touch with the boat until 6.36am when they received confirmation the boat had been rescued

At 8.56am, the Alarm Phone received news of another boat of 7 people which left from Tangier. The shift team remained in contact with the boat until 9.52am when they received confirmation that the boat had been intercepted and brought back to Morocco

Finally, the Alarm Phone received news at 20.25pm about a boat with 54 people (including 10 women and 5 children) that had left from Nador, Morocco early that morning. The boat was unreachable, so the shift team called Salvamiento Maritimo who already knew about the case. The shift team also contacted CEAR and UNHCR about the case. The boat remained unreachable for several hours. The shift team maintained contact with Salvamiento Maritimo to establish updates. Finally, at 20.35 on October 27th, the shift team received news that the boat had been rescued to Spain, but one child had died.
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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

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