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

Case name: 2019_09_27-CM196
Situation: 50-70 people in distress in Libyan SAR-zone, contact to all MRCCs, rescue only after two nights on the water by the so-called Libyan Coastguard, several people injured and 2 persons in critical health condition.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded (no confirmation by travelers)
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On Friday, 27th of September at 08:00pm CEST we were contacted by a group of travelers desperately asking for help. They had left from Misrata, Libya, 40 hours ago with 50 to 60 people, including women and children, their engine was not working for hours and they were drifting. They passed us a GPS location. At 08:46pm we talked to them again and informed them they were close to the Libyan coast and we had to inform the Libyan authorities.
At 09:04pm we sent an e-mail to the Libyan, Italian and Maltese Rescue Coordination Centers (MRCC), informing them about the case and the situation of the travelers, passing the GPS location and the phone number of the people.
At 09:12pm the travelers called us back and told us their situation was desperate. At 09:25pm we got through to an officer from the so-called Libyan Coastguard and passed on our information and learned that they knew about the case since the afternoon.
At 09:42pm we called the central office of the Italian Coastguard in Rome who confirmed they had received our e-mail but did not want to talk to us further.
At 10:22pm we received a new GPS location from the travelers. We tried to call the Libyan authorities to pass the new information but could not get through. We called the Italian Coastguard who refused to talk to us first but then copied the information and told us the French MRCC “La Garde” was informed and passed the information on to the so-called Libyan Coastguard. We should talk to La Garde for further information. Meanwhile we could not reach the people on the boat anymore. At 00:14am we called La Garde and learned that they had informed the Libyan authorities this afternoon, passing on the information about the travelers in distress. Since then they had tried to get a confirmation that Libya was coordinating the rescue but could not reach them anymore. We underlined that the people were in urgent distress and sent an e-mail after the phone call.
We still could not reach the people on the boat.
At 01:51am we called the French MRCC again who said they had talked to the so-called Libyan Coastguard who stated they would send out a rescue vessel only the next morning. For the next couple of hours, we tried to get through to the Libyan authorities but without success. Even the phone number the French MRCC had passed us did not work. At 03:51am we called the MRCC Rome again to tell them that in Libya no one was reachable to act in this urgent situation of distress, but the MRCC Rome claimed they could not do anything. At 04:38am we sent an e-mail to the so-called Libyan Coastguard asking them to confirm they were coordinating the case and launching a rescue operation.
In the meantime, the travelers were still not reachable but at 07:45am we got through to them again, but the connection was bad, and we only understood that they needed help. More communication and a new GPS location were not possible. At 08:48am we sent another e-mail to the Libyan, Italian, Maltese and French Coastguards, urging them to take action.
At 09:45am we talked to the travelers again via an Arabic translator. According to them, some people on the boat had died by now. They managed to pass us an updated GPS location.
At 10:30am we tried to get through to the so-called Libyan Coastguard but without success. Different numbers either did not work at all or the answering machine said the offices were closed. At 10:28am we informed the MRCC Rome via phone call about the new GPS location and about the fact that none of the Libyan authorities were reachable. At 10:40am we informed the French Coastguard as well, but they did not want to take any further steps in the issue. At 10:57am the travelers called us again telling us they did not have drinking water anymore and people were dying. We informed all Coastguards about this via e-mail.
When we got through to the travelers again at 11:24am they said water was entering the boat now and people had already drowned. They also reported injuries and unconscious people.
At 11:32am we spoke to the MRCC Rome again, passing them the new information. They repeated that the so-called Libyan Coastguard was in charge and advised us to contact them via a phone number we should find on the IOM website, but there we could not find any.
At 11:37am we sent an e-mail to the EUNAVFORMED (European Union Naval Force - Mediterranean) to ask them to assist in the rescue operation with an aerial asset.
At 11:52am we talked to the travelers again who told us that more people were losing consciousness and they could not survive much longer. We received a new GPS location. At 12:15pm we tried to contact the so-called Libyan Coastguard but without success.
At 01:00pm the travelers called us telling about the bad situation and referring to the human rights they had heard of but of which they could not exercise anything at present. They had not seen any vessels or aerial assets and the waves were high. We saw on the online map that a tanker was close to the boat and called the MRCC Rome in order to ask them to redirect the tanker in the direction of the boat. They stated to inform the Libyan authorities. We called the travelers to advise them to reflect the sunlight on some surface to attract the attention of the tanker.
At 02:21pm EUNAVFORMED confirmed they had received out e-mail and forwarded it to the relevant MRCCs. At 02:42pm we observed the tanker changing direction, away from the boat in distress.
At 03:00pm we talked to the travelers who said more people were passing out and they were reflecting the sunlight, but no ship was visible around them. They passed us their new GPS location.
At 03:47pm we tried to get through to the Libyan authorities but without success. At 04:01pm we spoke to the travelers again, the situation on board was very stressful but they managed to pass us an updated GPS location which we sent to all authorities via e-mail.
At 04:44pm we got through to a Libyan officer and passed him the updated GPS location. He stated that a speed boat was on the way towards the travelers now. At 04:57pm we informed the travelers about this. There were people panicking and they were very thirsty and desperate.
Only at 06:40pm we could get through to the Libyan authorities again who said they were searching for the boat in distress. At 07:34pm we talked to the people again who did still not see any help arrive.
From then on, we could not talk to them anymore for the next hours.
After regular unsuccessful attempts we got through to the Libyan authorities at 10:43pm and were told they were waiting for an update from their rescue units at sea. At 00:52am we talk to them again and received the same information. At 01:16am we sent an e-mail to all MRCCs asking for a confirmation of the rescue.
At 03:10am we got through to the travelers again who told us about a big ship close to them. We could not receive new GPS coordinates and could not re-establish the connection from then on.
We sent another e-mail with the information to all MRCCs asking for an update from their side. At 08:10am we called the MRCC Rome and according to them the rescue had been conducted by the Libyans. After several unsuccessful attempts we could talk to the so-called Libyan Coastguard at 09:27am. They confirmed they had sent out a rescue vessel. At 09:45am they confirmed the rescue of 71 persons and informed us that two persons were in very critical health condition and everyone had been brought to Misrata. We could not get a direct confirmation of the rescue by the travelers.