2023-06-22 22:53:46
Cadena SER has had access to the recording of the conversation held by the pilot of the search and Maritime Rescue plane before the tragic shipwreck this Tuesday in which two migrants lost their lives in waters near Morocco and another 37 remain missing.
According to government maps, the rescues that occur in the waters where the migrant boat was found correspond to Spain. However, Maritime Rescue speaks of “overlapping waters” in which rescues are usually made by Morocco due to its greater proximity.
The audio recordings of the conversation, published by SER, begin last Tuesday around 4:00 p.m. The Las Palmas coordination center spoke to the pilot of the search plane: “Look, I’m going to give you a position, we’d like to see if you could check it without actually entering the Moroccan SAR zone.” “Okay, go ahead,” the pilot replies.
“It is within our SAR zone”
After the pilot confirmed the location, the control tower asked him again: “It would be fair to enter an overlapping area some 4 or 5 miles away. I don’t know if it is possible to stay on the limit and try to check it from there.”
“The position is within our SAR zone,” the pilot replies again. After verifying that the migrants are apparently fine, the control tower asks the pilot to return to the base.
“We are going to inform Morocco that it is thirty or thirty-odd. Now I confirm. It is quite close to ‘El Aaiún’,” says Salvamento, who asks Morocco to take charge of the operation. Morocco answers in the affirmative, but its means take twelve hours to reach the place of the shipwreck, thus avoiding faster action.
What is the SAR zone?
Image of the SAR zones between Morocco and the Canary Islands | antenna 3
The SAR zone is the one in which each country has responsibility for rescues. The official website of Maritime Rescue ensures that this area corresponds to Spain, but, consulted by Antena 3 Noticias, they ensure that there are areas of Moroccan responsibility.
#SAR #zone