Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 13th of April 2015

Case name: 2015_04_13-CM12
Situation: Approximately 140 people in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Libya

Summary of the Case: In the morning of the 13th of April 2o15, the Alarm Phone shift team was contacted through a satellite phone by passengers on a vessel in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea, carrying more than 100 people. The shift team passed on received information to the MRCC Rome which stated that they were involved in about 17 cases of distress. In several conversations with the people in distress, more information was gathered. There were, in fact, two vessels that had left Tripoli together but passengers had lost contact to the other vessel.

In the Alarm Phone report from the 12-13th of April (2015_04_12-13-CM11), we had referred to this case of emergency as vessel number 9 (see source 1). The shift team was able to obtain the position of the vessel and passed on these new details to the MRCC Rome. About 140 passengers on vessel 9 were in serious distress, telling our shift team that water was entering their vessel.

In the early afternoon, the shift team spoke to the passengers and was informed that someone had broken his arm and that everyone was anxiously awaiting rescue. Our team sought to calm them down and promised to remain in touch. Later on, the situation became even more dramatic when passengers told of a pregnant woman on the vessel who became very sick. They had neither food nor water, fuel was running out and people started to panic. The shift team obtained new coordinates and passed them on to MRCC Rome as well as to the Maltese authorities. In the early evening, communication to the passengers worsened due to loud background noises and disruptions. New coordinates could not be obtained anymore and eventually contact to the passengers was lost altogether.

In the late evening MRCC Rome stated that they were rescuing all the vessels in distress in Libyan waters. On the 14th of April, the Italian and Maltese authorities confirmed the rescue of all vessels in distress from the previous day.