Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 9th of December 2015

Case name: 2015_12_09-AEG152
Situation: 6 boats in distress near Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Farmakonisi
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Wednesday the 9th of December 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 6 groups in distress close to the Greek islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Farmakonisi. Two groups arrived in Greece independently while two boats were rescued by the Greek coastguard. The Turkish coastguard also rescued two boats.

At 8am a contact person alerted the Alarm Phone to a boat in distress east of Lesvos, with 35 travellers on board (case 1). Their boat lost air and was already sinking. Although we were not able to talk directly to the travellers we called the Greek coastguard. We learned that the coastguard was aware of this boat and had already sent a rescue vessel. In the following hours we were not able to establish contact to the boat any more, but at 12.10am the person who had initially alerted us confirmed that the travellers had been rescued.

At 10.10am a contact person informed us about another boat in distress with 45 travellers on board on its way to Lesvos (case 2). As the contact person had already alerted the Greek coastguard, we did not become active. At 10.45am she confirmed to us that the Greek coastguard had indeed rescued the boat.

At 2.20pm the Alarm Phone received a call from a person who lost contact to a group of friends in a boat on their way to the Greek island of Samos (case 3). He was worried about their well-being as it their boat might have been overloaded and as he could not reach them anymore. However, as he did not receive further information on their position, we promised to try to talk to the travellers directly. Unfortunately we were not able to reach them in the following hours. But at 5.20pm the contact person informed us that the group had safely arrived in Greece.

At about 3.30pm several contact persons sent us phone numbers, GPS positions and pictures form travellers stranded on the military island of Farmakonisi (case 4). At 4pm we reached one of the numbers provided to us. The traveller did not know how many people had stranded on the island, but he told us that they had run out of food and water and that people had started to panic. We promised to alert the responsible authorities and to call him back soon. In a phone call with the authorities on the neighbouring island of Leros at 4.15pm we were told that they were already aware of this group but could not give us further information. Afterwards we called the UNHCR in Greece and were told to inquire the number of travellers stuck on the island and the time of their arrival. The person in the UNHCR office in Athens on the other hand promised to alert his colleagues on Leros and also try to find out more. At 4.45pm we talked again to the travellers. There were at least 100 people on the island, which had arrived around 1.30pm. We forwarded this information to the UNHCR and to the Leros Solidarity Group via e-mail. Two hours later we talked again to the travellers stucked on Farmakonisi, but no rescue vessel had arrived so far. At 7pm another contact person informed us about another group of travellers who had stranded on the same island, but at another place. In a direct call to them we learned that they had tried to call the local police on Leros, but did not reach them. At 8.15pm, in another call to the Leros port authorities, we were told that they had sent a boat, although the travellers were still on the island. Thus we assumed that they have to stay the night there. Only around midday of the next day we learned that the authorities had started to transfer travellers from Farmakonisi to Leros. However, we could not obtain confirmation from the travellers as we were not able to reach them anymore.

At 7.30pm a contact person called us and informed us that a boat with his relatives on board had capsized east of Farmakonisi (case 5). He provided us with coordinates and phone numbers of the travellers. Beyond that he told us that 28 persons went overboard, wearing lifejackets though. We called the Greek coastguard in Piraeus immediately afterwards and forwarded the coordinates and phone number to them. Shortly afterwards the coastguard called us back, asking for the phone number of our contact person, as they, logically, were not able to reach the travellers directly. But as our contact person was not in direct contact to his relatives, this was not possible in this moment. At 8pm the coastguard confirmed to us that they had started a rescue operation. However, at 8.45pm they informed us that a helicopter had not found the travellers in distress. Thus they had also sent a rescue vessel. At 9pm our contact person forwarded the phone number of another contact to us, who had been in contact with the travellers. We talked to this person and were told that the Greek coastguard had rescued the travellers. However, the Greek coastguard told us that it was in fact the Turkish coastguard who saved the people.

At 10pm a contact person alerted us to a boat in distress south of the Greek island of Chios (case 6). Immediately afterwards we called the travellers on board and learned that they were 40 people and urgently in need of help. At 10.05pm the contact person urged us to alert the Turkish coastguard, due to the severe situation of distress. We did accordingly at 10.10pm and learned that they were already aware of this boat. We compared the given coordinates and realized that they were identical. Already at 10.20pm the contact person informed us that the Turkish coastguard had rescued the travellers in distress.