Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 26th of January 2015

Case name: 2015_01_26-WM2
Situation: Vessel in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Ongoing (Last update: 26th of January 2015)
Time and Place of Incident: 26th of January, Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: The Watch The Med Alarm Phone received a phone call from a French speaking person from Morocco, near Oujda. He informed the shift team about a zodiac vessel that had left around 3am on that day from Nador with 16 men and 1 woman from Sub-Saharan Africa on board. The last contact with the passengers took place around 4am. The shift team alerted an expert of the Western Mediterranean region and reached out to the Spanish sea search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo notifying them about the situation. Responding very cooperatively, Salvamento Maritimo informed the shift team about a vessel with 16 people (15 and not 16 men, 1 woman) on board who had been rescued and were being brought to Malaga after a call from another person from Morocco, of whom they gave us the phone number. By giving this number to our contact person in Morocco, the shift team was able to verify that the rescued vessel was the one in question. The person who had called us was very happy to hear that a successful rescue operation had been conducted and thanked the shift team.