31/10: Two cases: 30/36 travelers called from Turkish waters, finally rescued by Greek coastguard, 35 travelers returned to Bodrum / Muğla

01.11.2019 / 13:36 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 31st of October 2019

Case name: 2019_10_31-AEG609
Situation: One group of 30/36 travelers in Turkish waters, possibly continued moving after the alert and rescued by Greek coastguard to Kos; second group of 35 people in the same region, returned to Bodrum / Muğla by Turkish coastguard.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases:

On 31 October 2019, the Alarm Phone was alerted to two situations of distress:
The first alert came in at 02:30am CET from 30 travelers in Turkish water via a relative. We informed the Turkish coastguard who could not find the people, and at 09:41am we learned from the Greek coastguard that they had rescued a boat with 36 travelers in the area and brought the people to Kos.
The second alert reached us at 08:50pm from a group of 35 travelers in a boat taking in water. They were also in Turkish waters south of Bodrum / Muğla. We informed the Turkish coastguard who confirmed the rescue of all people at 10:24pm.

Case1:
At 02:30am CET the Alarm phone was contacted by a relative of somebody on a boat in distress in Turkish waters south of Bodrum. They informed us there were 30 people, struggling with high waves, needing help immediately, and passed us a GPS location. The family member had lost contact at 02:00am and asked us to alert the Turkish coastguard. We did so at 02:45am, passed the GPS location and phone number from the boat, and they stated to send out a rescue vessel. We could not establish contact to the travelers and called the Turkish coastguard again at 04:00am to ask for news. They said they had not found anyone and could not reach the people on the phone. Neither the Alarm Phone nor the relative could get through to them. At 09:41am we asked the Greek coastguard about the case and they reported to have rescued a group of 36 people in the area and brought them to Kos island, Greece. We supposed this could be the group we were alerted to, if they had continued to move on towards Kos after the alert. We called the port authority of Kos for details, but they refused to provide information.

Case 2:
At 08:50pm CET the Alarm Phone was contacted by a friend of someone on a boat in distress south of Bodrum in Turkish waters. There were reportedly 35 travelers, and the situation was dangerous, because water had already entered the boat. The friend stressed how serious the situation was and asked us to inform the Turkish coastguard. We did so at 09:21pm and passed them the GPS location and phone number from the boat via phone call and e-mail. At 09:21pm we called the Turkish coastguard again and they said the rescue operation was in progress. At 09:32pm the friend of the travelers informed us that the coastguard had arrived and at 10:24pm we received a confirmation of the rescue from the Turkish coastguard stating that all travelers had been rescued and nobody was under critical health condition. They would be transferred to Bodrum/ Muğla. We could not get a direct confirmation of the rescue from the travelers.

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