05/5: Two boats intercepted by Marine Royale

Verified

  In Distress

06.05.2019 / 22:01 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 5th of May 2019
Case name: 2019_05_05-WM387
Situation: Two boats, one with 8 travellers the other with 10, intercepted by Marine Royale. Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of case On Sunday the 5th of May the Alarm Phone was alerted to two boats, one with eight and one with 10 travellers. In the end, both boats were intercepted by the Moroccan navy.


At 08:00 am CEST the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boat in distress in the Western Mediterranean, with 8 travellers, of which two children, asking for help. We then lost contact with them until 10:08 am when they informed us that they had been picked up by Marine Royale.


At 9.00 am we were alerted by a contact person to a boat in distress carrying 10 travellers, including 5 women. The engine was no longer working and water was entering the boat, and they urgently asked for help. At 09:32am we informed Salvamento Maritimo of the case, forwarding the phone number and position of the travellers. At 09:58am we received more telephone numbers from our contact person and we updated Salvamento Maritimo with this information. At 10:20am we informed Marine Royale about this distress case. We were then unable to establish contact with the boat. At 10:50am we called Marine Royale and they informed us that they were starting a rescue mission. At 11:20am we called Salvamento Maritimo again to ask for an update. In this call, however, they claimed that they had not received our email. At 11:36 am we received the information from our contact person that the travellers had been picked up by Marine Royale and brought back to Morocco.
Last update: 22:27 May 16, 2019
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

Related Reports

15:31 Oct 17, 2015 / Western Mediterranean Sea Kms
Boat intercepted by Moroccan Navy‬
17:45 May 09, 2023 / Western Mediterranean Kms
08/05: 9 travellers returned to Tangier by the Moroccan navy
18:06 Aug 19, 2018 / Western Mediterranean Sea Kms
18/08: 2 boats (1 returned on its own, 1 remains without info)
22:44 Sep 14, 2016 / Western Mediterranean Sea, Morocco Kms
13/09: 2 Boats intercepted by the Moroccan Navy
20:13 May 15, 2015 / Between Tangier and Spain Kms
11 people in distress in the Western Med, all rescued