04/09: 2 boats rescued to Kos, one boat south of Lesvos rescued by Turkish Coast Guard

05.09.2018 / 21:43 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 4th of September 2018

Case name: 2018_04_09-AEG421
Situation: 2 boats rescued to Kos, one boat south of Lesvos in distress, rescued by Turkish Coast Guard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On Tuesday, 4th of September, the Alarm phone was alerted to 3 boats in the Aegean Sea. Two boats with 31 and 36 people were eventually rescued to Kos. The third boat was in distress in the south of Lesvos and was rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard.

Case 1: At 8:57am CEST we were alerted to a boat in distress close to Kos, carrying in total 31 people, among them 10 women and 13 children. We tried to reach the boat, but couldn’t establish a direct connection. At 10:06am we called the Greek Coast Guard. They informed us that the boat had already been rescued. We couldn’t confirm directly with the people on board.

Case 2: At 8:57am CEST we were alerted to a second boat towards Kos, carrying 36 people. We couldn’t establish a connection to the boat. At 11:20 the contact person confirmed that they had been rescued to Greece. We didn’t reach the travellers themselves anymore to confirm the information.

Case 3: At 10:40pm we were alerted to a boat in the south of Lesvos with 36 people on board, among them 10 children. The boat was in serious distress and in Turkish waters. At 11:04pm we called the Turkish Coast Guard and passed our information. At 11:37pm the contact person confirmed the rescue by the Turkish Coast Guard. At 00:08am the Turkish Coast Guard confirmed the rescue as well.

Last update: 20:12 Sep 26, 2018

Credibility:

Border police patrols
While the exact location of patrols is of course constantly changing, this line indicates the approximate boundary routinely patrolled by border guards’ naval assets. In the open sea, it usually correspond to the outer extent of the contiguous zone, the area in which “State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws” (UNCLOS, art. 33). Data source: interviews with border police officials.
Coastal radars
Approximate radar beam range covered by coastal radars operating in the frame of national marine traffic monitoring systems. The actual beam depends from several different parameters (including the type of object to be detected). Data source: Finmeccanica.
Exclusive Economic Zone
Maritime area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which the coastal state exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters. Its breadth is 200 nautical miles from the straight baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (UNCLOS, Arts. 55, 56 and 57). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans
Frontex operations
Frontex has, in the past few years, carried out several sea operations at the maritime borders of the EU. The blue shapes indicate the approximate extend of these operations. Data source: Migreurop Altas.
Mobile phone coverage
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network coverage. Data source: Collins Mobile Coverage.
Oil and gas platforms
Oil and gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Data source:
Search and Rescue Zone
An area of defined dimensions within which a given state is has the responsibility to co-ordinate Search and Rescue operations, i.e. the search for, and provision of aid to, persons, ships or other craft which are, or are feared to be, in distress or imminent danger. Data source: IMO availability of search and rescue (SAR) services - SAR.8/Circ.3, 17 June 2011.
Territorial Waters
A belt of sea (usually extending up to 12 nautical miles) upon which the sovereignty of a coastal State extends (UNCLOS, Art. 2). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans