Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 19th of May 2015

Case name: 2015_05_19-WM8
Situation: 3 vessels in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea, Moroccan waters
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea, near Morocco

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday the 19th of May 2015, the shift team of the Alarm Phone received a distress call from the Western Mediterranean Sea in the early morning. A vessel had left the Moroccan coast around 3am in the night and carried presumably 7 men, 2 women and 1 baby (henceforth referred to as vessel 1). They seemed distressed and although communication was difficult due to background noises, information could be obtained about their approximate place of departure. They also stated that they could see a big cargo vessel and that ‘water is changing’ which presumably indicated more difficult weather/maritime conditions. The shift team immediately contacted the Spanish rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo which stated that they would start searching for the vessel straightaway. They also suggested that they were looking for another vessel (henceforth referred to as vessel 2) with approximately 12 people on board.

Our shift team then called back the passengers of vessel 1 and passed on the information that rescue was underway. Afterwards, the people in distress contacted our shift team repeatedly, asking for immediate rescue as ‘water is closing in, all of our material is full of water’. We advised them to stay calm and re-emphasised that a rescue vessel was on its way.

In the meantime, our shift team received a call from a friend located on Moroccan mainland who knew of vessel 2 that had left the coast at around 4am and was carrying 11 people, including 2 women and 2 children. At around 8am, Salvamento Maritimo informed us that the Royal Navy of Morocco had intercepted vessel 2 which our contact person on Moroccan mainland confirmed.

Shortly afterwards, the shift team reached out to the passengers on vessel 1 once again. They confirmed that they were in the process of being rescued by two vessels of Salvamento Maritimo.

At around 9am, the shift team received another call from about 8-9 people in distress, including 1 baby, who were still located in Moroccan waters (vessel 3). They had left the coast around 4 or 5am in the morning and were asking for help. We once again contacted Salvamento Maritimo and passed on the obtained information. In a phone call that quickly broke off, the passengers seemed to suggest that a vessel of the Moroccan Navy was approaching. Afterwards, contact could not be re-established and later on, Salvamento Maritimo confirmed that the vessel had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy.