Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 7th of August 2018
Case name: 2018_08_07-WM306
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 4 distress cases between Morocco and Spain.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday the 7th of August, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted to four boats in distress in the strait of Gibraltar. Three of the boats were rescued by the Spanish search and rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo (SM) whilst one was returned to Morocco.

At 5.50am CEST a contact person informed our shift team about a group of 12 people, including two women, forwarding us their phone number and position. The travellers had left from at beach just south of Tangier at 11pm local time on a boat without a motor. We reached the travellers, who were tired and asking for help. At 6.33am CEST we called SM and passed on the information we had. We stayed in touch with the travellers, who sent us their updated positions, showing that they were drifting because of the strong wind. At 9.25 we called the Moroccan rescue authorities, who informed us that a boat of the navy was in the area where we had received the last position of the travellers.
Throughout the day we were continuously communicating with both Spanish and Moroccan rescue authorities. SM insisted that it was the responsibility of the Moroccan navy to rescue the boat, whilst the Moroccan rescue authorities told us that they were requesting help from Spain, as their resources were limited. SM told us that they did not receive such a request. In a call to SM Madrid at 8.12pm, they agreed to get involved with the case
In the evening we lost contact to the boat, and were not able to obtain information about the search and rescue operation from SM. The following day at 4pm we were informed by the contact person that the travellers had been rescued by SM and brought to Spain.

At 6.13am CEST a contact person alerted us to a boat in distress carrying 12 people, forwarding us the position and phone number of the boat. The travellers had left from a beach just south of Tangier. At 6.44am we informed SM about the boat. We spoke to the travellers several times, and they send us their updated positions. At 9.25am we spoke to the Moroccan rescue authorities, who informed us that one of the vessels of the Moroccan navy was in the same area as this group of travellers. At 11.40am we received the last position from the travellers, and after this it was no longer possible to reach them. We were not able to receive information about the search and rescue operation from neither SM nor the Moroccan rescue authorities, despite many attempts. Only at 4.20pm the next day did we get a confirmation from the contact person that the travellers had been rescued by the Moroccan navy and brought back to Morocco.
At 8.59am CEST our shift team was alerted by a contact person to a boat with 57 people, including six women and three babies. The travellers had left from around Nador the previous morning at 6am. At 10.40am we reached the travellers, who were tired and had run out of food and water as well as petrol. At 11.55am we called SM, who were already informed about the boat, and told us they had been looking for it since the previous day. For a long time it was not possible to reach the travellers, but at 2.10pm we got through to them, and at 3.26pm we received their position via WhatsApp. After passing on the position to SM, we could follow the trajectory of one of their vessels heading towards the travellers. We managed to stay in contact with the travellers until rescue arrived, and they were brought to Spain.

At 9.43am CEST we were contacted by a group of 12 people, including one woman. We stayed in touch with them, and they were able to send us their updated positions. At 12.17pm a contact person told us that they were drifting towards the Atlantic. We called SM and alerted them to the distress of the boat. During the evening we communicated with both Spanish and Moroccan rescue authorities, and at 8.21pm, SM finally agreed that they would take responsibility to rescue the boat, and we were able to forward updated positions from the boat. On vesselfinder we could see a Spanish rescue vessel and helicopter approaching the position of the boat. At 1.28am we got a confirmation from the contact person that the travellers had been rescued by SM.