11/11: 30 travelers attacked and pulled back to Turkey; 44 travelers rescued by Turkey.

12.11.2019 / 01:11 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 11th of November 2019
Case name: 2019_11_11-AEG618
Situation: 30 travelers in Greek waters attacked by a boat and returned to Turkey; 44 travelers in the Turkish waters, returned to Turkey.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On the 11th of November the Alarm Phone was alerted to two situations in the Aegean Sea. The first alert came in at 9:30am CET from a group of 30 travellers close to the island of Chios. We informed the Greek coastguard about the boat in distress immediately. A few minutes later the travellers reported that they had been attacked by a boat and pushed towards Turkey.
The second distress call reached us at 11:37am. We alerted the Turkish coastguard and the safe rescue of 44 people was confirmed at 1:47am.

At 9:30am CET the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boat with 30 travellers asking for urgent help. The GPS location of the boat was clearly located in Greek waters, close to the island of Chios. At 9:34am we informed the Greek coastguard and passed them the GPS location, the phone number of the travellers, and also sent them an e-mail with all the information. At 9:48am the travelers reported that they have been attacked by a boat, their petrol has been stolen and they were slowly drifting towards Turkey. Afterwards, the contact to the travellers broke down and it could not be re-established so far. We assume that the people ended up back in Turkey. It remains to be investigated why this pull-back from Greek waters took place.

At 11:37pm CET the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boat with 50 travellers in distress. The GPS location of the boat was in the Turkish waters, south of Didim. At 11:58pm we alterted the Turkish coastguard and passed them the GPS location, the phone number of the travellers, and also sent them an e-mail with all the information. The contact to the travellers broke down and could not be re-established. On the 12th of November at 1:47am we received a confirmation from the Turkish coastguard that a rubber-boat with 44 people has been rescued and brought back to Turkey. Later we also received an email and a confirmation from the travellers themselves that they are all safe back in Turkey.

Last update: 17:07 Dec 21, 2019

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