The Spanish maritime rescue service reported on Sunday that 11 people are stranded on a fishing boat believed to have been stolen from the port of Agadir in Morocco, after it broke down in the Atlantic Ocean about 100 kilometers (approximately 54 nautical miles) from Lanzarote Island in the Canary Islands.
The Lanzarote emergency consortium reported, according to the “Efe” agency, that the 11 migrants are all of Moroccan origin, and they will arrive at the port of Arrecife after 11 PM due to rough sea conditions hindering the towing operation.
According to official information, the crew of the boat issued a distress call after 2 AM to the maritime rescue coordination center in Las Palmas, which sent the rescue ship “Salvamar Al Nair” from Lanzarote.
The center indicated that Moroccan authorities reported they do not have resources to intervene.
Other vessels in the area participated in the operation to determine the exact location of the boat, with the ferry “Ciudad de Valencia” being the first to reach it and waiting beside it until the rescue ship arrived.
The towing operation toward Lanzarote began around 9 AM. If the theft of the boat from Agadir is confirmed, as indicated by sources from the emergency consortium, this will be the third such incident in the past 12 months on the shores of Lanzarote. Another stolen fishing boat arrived at the port of Arrecife on June 18, 2025, carrying 14 Moroccan men, including a minor.
The second incident occurred on September 10, 2025, off the coast of Orzola, where the boat ran aground and caught fire, carrying five Moroccan men. The maritime rescue service did not disclose additional details about how the boat left the port of Agadir.
