07/05: Unknown number of travellers intercepted by Libyan forces

08.05.2018 / 22:29 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 7th of May 2018

Case name: 2018_05_07-CM126
Situation: Unknown number of travellers intercepted by Libyan forces
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On Monday, 7th of May, at 8:53am CEST, we received a call from a boat that had left from Tripoli at 3am, with many women and children on board. We couldn’t establish a stable connection to get more information. At 9:20am we called the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) in Rome and informed them about the case. We also sent an e-mail to the respective authorities to document the alert. At 9:39am we managed to establish a connection to the travellers again and tried to find out their GPS position. They informed us that they were travelling on a rubber boat. We contacted the light aircraft ‚Moonbird‘ of Sea-Watch and the Humanitarian Pilots Initiative (HPI) that hence started to search the boat in the area. At 10:20am we called MRCC Rome again. They informed us that they had talked to the travellers and also received their GPS position. At 10:22am we informed the boat ‚Aquarius‘ of SOS Mediterannée that was in the area at that time.
At 10:32am the Moonbird Crew informed us that they had spotted a rubber boat and would pass the position to the Aquarius and MRCC Rome. We couldn’t definitely confirm that the spotted boat was our case, since we couldn’t establish a phone connection to the travellers anymore. We nevertheless continuously monitored the credit balance of their Thuraya phone to make sure they would be able to communicate.
At 12:20am we called MRCC Rome again that stated there would be a second boat in the area and the rescue operation would be coordinated by the Libyan Coast Guard, which would also be in contact with the Aquarius. We monitored the movements of the SAR assets via the live map marinetraffic.com. Aquarius had not been able to involve in the rescue operation. We couldn’t reach the travellers any more. At 3:25pm we called MRCC Rome again that told us that the boat we had been calling for had been picked up by the Libyan Coast Guard.

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