22/08: 17 travelers in distress in Greek waters close to Chios

23.08.2019 / 17:45 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of August 2019
Case name: 2019_08_22-AEG560
Situation: 17 travelers (4 women, 7 children) drifting in Greek water close to Chios island, rescued by the Greek coast guard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On Thursday, 22nd of August at 10:00am CEST the Alarm Phone was alerted to a group of 17 travelers, among them 4 women and 7 children, in Greek waters close to Chios island, according to their GPS location.
At 10:11am we received a new GPS location and they reported that they were drifting because their engine was not working anymore, there were big waves and they were very afraid because they feared to sink.
At 10:15am we alerted the Greek coast guards in Piraeus and informed the travelers about this. We also forwarded the Greek emergency number and the number of the coast guards to the travelers, but they said they could not reach those numbers.
At 10:29am we received a new GPS location which was still in Greek waters which we forwarded via e-mail to the coast guards. From that moment on we could not get through to the people anymore. At 11:26am we called the Greek coast guards and were informed that they had rescued the group and at 01:00pm we received the direct confirmation by the travelers that they were save in Greece.
Last update: 09:01 Sep 05, 2019
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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