03/11: 30 travelers in distress close to Samothraki, rescued by Greek coastguard

04.11.2019 / 13:51 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 3rd of November 2019

Case name: 2019_11_03-AEG611
Situation: Approx. 30 travelers (11 women, 7 children) in distress close to Samothraki, rescued to Samothraki by Greek coastguard.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On 3 November 2019, at 06:15am CET the Alarm Phone was called by a group of about 30 travelers, among them 11 women and seven children, whose boat was taking in water. They sent us their GPS location which was close to Samothraki island, Greece. At 06:24am we informed the Greek coastguard and passed them the GPS location and the phone number of the travelers, and also sent them the information via e-mail. They said they would send a rescue vessel. We tried to get back to the travelers to tell them that help was coming but we could not re-establish the contact. At 11:36am we called the port authority of Samothraki, and they confirmed the rescue of a group of 31 people some hours ago, which we supposed to be the group that had called us.

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