Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 7th of July 2015

Case name: 2015_07_07-CM30
Situation: Vessel in distress in the Central Med, rescued
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea, Libya

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday the 7th of July 2015, at 9:50am, the Alarm Phone shift team received a message from Father Mussie Zerai in which he alerted us to a vessel in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea. While the exact location of the vessel was unclear, he was able to pass on the satellite phone number of the passengers.

After several attempts, direct connection to the boat-people could be established. It quickly became clear that the passengers were very anxious and in urgent need of rescue. Some time later, around 11:11am, they tried to pass on their GPS position but only half of the coordinates came through. They told us that there were about 180 people on board and that they could see two large vessels in the distance. They had left Libya the night before. After that phone call, contact to the passengers could not be established anymore. Alarm Phone members informed the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome and also reached out to the vessel Phoenix of Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) that was positioned in Libyan waters but they also had no knowledge on the whereabouts of the vessel in question. For many hours, no new information could be won. When contacting MRCC Rome in the evening, at around 7.30pm, they were reluctant to pass on any information.

Then, at 8pm, while still reluctant to engage with us, MRCC Rome stated that the people in distress were safe. Also, a day later, it was confirmed that the vessel had been rescued and that the travellers were on their way to Trapani in Italy.