08/08: 8 travellers intercepted and brought back to Morocco

09.08.2018 / 17:48 / Western Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 8th of August 2018
Case name: 2018_08_08-WM307
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 6 distress cases between Morocco and Spain.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Wednesday the 8th of August, the Alarm Phone shift team was informed about six boats in distress in the strait of Gibraltar. Only in one of the cases was it possible for us to establish contact to the boat and get actively involved (see description below). Out of the six boats, only one boat was rescued by the Spanish search and rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo (SM) whilst the others were returned to Morocco.

At 11.50am CEST our shift team was alerted by a contact person to a boat with 8 people which had left from a beach just south of Tangier at 2.30am local time. We spoke to the people, who were exhausted and forwarded us their position, showing that they were already out of Moroccan territorial waters. At 12.39pm we spoke to SM and passed on the information we had. The travellers kept sending us updated positions, showing that they were moving towards Spain. At 1.28pm they sent us a voice message saying that a boat was approaching, and after this we were no longer able to reach them. In the evening at 7.25pm, we were informed by the contact person that the travellers had been intercepted and brought back to Morocco.

Last update: 17:22 Sep 11, 2018

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