SALVAMAR ARCTURUS

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Body and boats found after wrecks of drug smuggling boats

On Oct 30, 2023, a Civil Guard patrol boat located the body of one of the two people who had fallen into the sea in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar from two boats that could be related to drug trafficking. The body was found around 1:30 p.m. near Tarifa, by one of the patrol boats participating in the search for the missing. The body corresponded to a man of North African origin who was wearing a neoprene suit and who had jumped into the sea from an inflatable boat four miles west of the Island of Tarifa. The other missing person corresponded to the crew of another boat that had collided with a merchant ship on Oct 29 around 8 p.m. He was on board with three other people, two of whom were rescued by the Audanera Surveillance Service, while the Civil Guard saved a third crew member. The search for the missing person, which was interrupted overnight, was resumed in the morning of Oct 31. The 'Salvamar Gadir' and 'Salvamar Alnitak' along with the Helimer 223 helicopter participated in the operation, although the search tasks were initially carried out by the 'Salvamar Arcturus'. On Oct 31 the Civil Guard located 4,290 kilos of hashish in 130 bales in the sea, near the coast of Tarifa, that were transported by the boat from which a crew member fell. The boat, a semi-rigid with four engines, was also found stranded on the shore of Los Lances beach. The difficult sea conditions had caused one of the two crew members of the boat to fall into the sea. The second crew member notified 112 to request that they search for the man who had fallen into the sea on Oct 30 shortly before 7:00 a.m. Another person fell into the sea, near Algeciras, during the night of Oct 29 after a semi-rigid boat with three engines collided with a container ship. Four persons were on the accident boat and fell into the sea after the impact, two of whom were rescued by the Customs Surveillance Service (SVA), both of Moroccan nationality and one of them declared that they resided in Algeciras. The Civil Guard rescued a third crew member, while the fourth, a Colombian national, was still missing. The boat, a semi-rigid with three high-power engines, was split in two as a result of the accident.

Hundreds of migrants assisted by Salvamento Marítimo

Several rescue operations were coordinated during an intense night by the CCS of Salvamento Marítimo in Tarifa and Las Palmas on Sep 3-4, 2023. On Sep 3 at noon a boat with 187 sub-Saharan Africans, among them 148 men, five women and 34 minors, was located one nautical mile off the port of Tenerife. The CCS Tenerife mobilized the 'Salvamar Alpheratz', which escorted it to the Granadilla Pier, where the Red Cross was waiting. The 'Salvamar Arcturus' rescued three North African people 16 nautical miles west of Isla Tarifa. The 'Salvamar Macondo' located a rubber boat six nautical miles outh of Arguineguín with 23 people on board, among them four sub-Saharans and 19 North Africans. At 11 p.m. a boat with about 134 people on board was located oen nautical mile southeast of the port of Los Cristianos. The 'Salvamar Alpheratz' escorted it to the port of Los Cristianos. At 9 a.m. the disembarkation in the port was finished. Among htem were 96 adult men and 38 minors. The 'Salvamar Menkalinan' rescued 45 men and 20 minors of sub-Saharan origin from a precariouis boat which was located south of Tenerife. They were taken to the port of Los Cristianos. Photos: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1698620178513195407

RHIB towed to Tarifa

On Aug 26, 2023, the Narwhal-type semi-rigid boat with one crew member on board went adrift due to an engine failure and requested towing assistance south of Caraminal. The CCS Tarifa mobilized the 'Salvamar Arcturus' which took the boat in tow and pulled it to Tarifa. Photo: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1695427919231746050