Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 27th of September 2019

Case name: 2019_09_27-AEG581
Situation: One group (30 ppl) stranded on Farmakonisi Island and transferred to Leros, one group (7-14 people) in distress close to Chios Island, rescued to Greece, one group in distress in Turkish waters, rescued and brought back to Turkey.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases:
On Friday, 27th of September 2019 the Alarm Phone worked on 3 cases in the Aegean Sea:
The first alarm reached us at 05:46am CEST from a group of 30 travelers stranded on Farmakonisi Island. They were rescued and brought to Leros Island.
The second case came in at 06:01pm CEST from 14 travelers in distress close to Chios Island. We informed the Greek Coastguard who confirmed the rescue of 7 people with the same phone number at 07:19pm.
The third group of travelers alerted us at 07:46pm CEST from a situation of distress in Turkish waters north of Kos Island. We informed the Turkish Coastguard and at 08:29pm the travelers confirmed their rescue.

Case 1: At 05:46am CEST our shift team received a message from 30 people stranded on Farmakonisi Island, Greece. At 06:00am we informed the Greek Coastguard in Piraeus who said they would send a rescue unit. We sent an e-mail with the according information to the Greek Coastguard, UNHCR and a solidarity network for migrants on Leros Island. At 06:27am we informed the travelers that a rescue was started and that it could take a while until the units arrive. At 07:23am we called the Port Authorities on Leros Island who confirmed the rescue and at 07:50am we also received a confirmation from the Leros Solidarity network.

Case 2: At 06:01pm CEST we received an alert from a contact person, telling us about 14 people in distress with a broken engine east of Chios Island in Greek territorial waters. We only had a GPS location, no phone number of the travelers. At 06:16pm we informed the Greek Coastguard in Piraeus via phone call and were told they would send a rescue vessel to the area. At 06:21pm we received a phone number of the travelers, but they were not available, so we sent a WhatsApp message asking about their situation. We sent an e-mail to the Greek Coastguard with the collected information, including the phone number. At 06:44pm the travelers responded to our message with the single word “Help”. At 07:01pm we checked with the Greek Coastguard if a rescue was in process and they confirmed this. At 07:19pm they called us back to confirm the rescue of a group of people at the location indicated. There had only been 7 people in the boat, but the phone number was the same as the one we had been in contact with.

Case 3: At 07:46pm CEST we were alerted to a boat in distress with a GPS location north of Kos Island in Turkish territorial waters. At 08:01pm we alerted the Turkish Coastguard via phone call. At 08:02pm the travelers told us their situation was very dangerous and they feared drowning. We informed them that the Turkish Coastguard was on its way to rescue them. At 08:29pm we called the Turkish Coastguard to ask how the operation was proceeding and they responded they had sent two rescue ships to the location. At the same time we received a message from the travelers confirming the rescue.