02/09: 15 people in distress on their way to Chios, rescued to Turkey

03.09.2019 / 12:06 / Aegean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 2nd of September 2019
Case name: 2019_09_02-AEG567
Situation: 15 people in distress on their way to Chios, rescued to Turkey
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean

Summary of the Case:
On the 2nd of September our shiftteam got alerted to one or two boats on their way to Chios with 15 travellers. There were two alerts nearly in the same time (4:47am and 5:00am CEST) whith the same number of travellers. With one group a direct contact was possible, their engine had stopped short before the borderline and they asked urgently for rescue. At 6.23am the Turkish coastguard confirm the rescue of one boat, but the second boat was still moving, so they didn't need rescue. At 6:33am the rescue of one boat was also confirmed by the contact person. It remained unclear and we finally assume that our direct contact was given only with one boat and the other one was obviously in sight but without a direct contact to us.

At 4:47am CEST on the 2nd of September the Alarmphone shift team was alerted to a boat in distress carrying 10 people. We learned from the travellers that their engine wasn’t working. We informed both the Greek and Turkish coastguards. At the same time (5:22am) we received another call, but we could not understand whether it was from the same or a different boat – this new call was from 15 people (3 children & 1 baby) in great distress. We contacted the Turkish coastguard again regarding this potentially new case. At 6:23am the Turkish coastguard informed us that they had rescued on boat (we assumed the first boat), but had not rescued the second At 9am we had several calls with the Greek coastguard regarding the potential second boat which may still have been at sea. At 9:21am the Greek coastguard let us know that they were told that Turkish coastguard had rescued a boat. It was not clear if this meant both boats, or just the first. During our follow up the contact person told us that the travellers had been beaten in the police station after their rescue. A direct contact to the travellers themselves could not be established any more.

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