On Friday, the Spanish government initiated the national maritime rescue plan to aid a Royal Moroccan Navy patrol boat that had run aground on Thursday morning off the coast of Melilla, as reported by the Spanish news agency. EFE .
The Spanish governmental group in Melilla stated that this choice was made "owing to the condition of the Moroccan patrol vessel" close to the city’s southern seawall, where Moroccan employees set up an aquatic pollution prevention barrier on Friday.
The patrol boat, of the P-32 class, remains stuck, with its stern visibly submerged due to water ingress it suffered on Thursday. The vessel is experiencing both vertical and horizontal movement due to strong waves and easterly winds.
At first, the Spanish authorities proposed deploying maritime rescue units along with the Port of Melilla to aid in recovering the patrol boat. Nonetheless, these resources were withdrawn on Thursday night when they did not receive an official request for help from Morocco.
On Friday morning, a Spanish rescue vessel reached the location to carefully assess the circumstances; however, it promptly headed back to the harbor.
Over ten crew members were onboard the patrol vessel, working to rescue it, as two additional vessels released the floating pollution containment system, sourced from the Port of Nador.
According to reports from maritime sources shared with EFE, the patrol boat might have either lost control or experienced an engine malfunction during its voyage on Thursday. This situation left the vessel vulnerable to wind currents, which pushed it into Spanish territorial waters until it ultimately became stranded on the rocky outcroppings of Melilla’s southern seawall.
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