SALVAMAR ARCTURUS

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Latest news

Three migrants rescued from toy like rubber boat

On March 25, 2025, the 'Salvamar Arcturus' has rescued three people who were trying to reach the coast of Cádiz aboard a toy-type rubber boat southeast of the Trafalgar lighthouse. The alert was given by an informant ashore at around 2:55 p.m.. The 'Salvamar Arcturus" was deployed from the CCS of Salvamento Marítimo in Tarifa Coordination. The Civil Guard was also informed. The rubber boatwas located several miles from the lighthouse, on Banco del Hoyo. The three occupants were rescued in apparent good condition and taken to the port of Tarifa. After being treated by Red Cross volunteers, they were sent to a Temporary Assistance Center for Foreigners (CATE).

Four migrants rescued off Tarifa

On Aug 14 the 'Salvamar Arcturus' rescued four Moroccan men at 8:53 a.m. from a toy boat which had been located by a merchant ship four nautical miles southeast of Tarifa. They were taken on board and disembarked in El Saladillo at 9:36 a.m. The response was coordinated by maritime controllers from the Maritime Safety Centre.

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.