Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 8th of January 2016Case name: 2016_02_08-AEG203
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 4 boats in distress near Lesvos, Chios and Samos
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea
Summary of the Case: On Monday the 8th of February 2016 the Alarm Phone was informed about 4 boats in distress in the Aegean Sea. One group arrived independently on the Greek island of Lesvos and one group was rescued to Lesvos by the Greek coastguard. Another boat was intercepted by the Turkish coastguard, while to the fourth boat contact could not be established after the initial alert.
At 6.30am a contact person informed the Alarm Phone about a boat in distress east of the Greek island of Lesvos, the engine of which had stopped with about 40 people on board (case 1). We asked the contact person for the GPS position of the boat, but before we received it he told us that the motor had started again and that the travellers were able to continue their journey. In the afternoon he confirmed to us that it is likely that the people have arrived safely.
At 1.20pm the Alarm Phone was alerted via Facebook to a boat in distress on its way to the Greek island of Chios (case 2). We were informed about 50 people on board and that water was already entering the boat. The contact person asked us to directly call the Turkish coastguard, as the boat was still in Turkish territorial waters. At 1.30pm we received a phone number of the travellers on board and tried to call them several times, but without success. At 2am we decided not to call the Turkish coastguard without further news from the travellers. However, in the following hours neither the contact person nor we were able to establish contact to the travellers again.
Shortly afterwards, at 1.30pm, we were alerted to a boat in distress east of Lesvos, with 45 people on board, including 15 children (case 3). At 1.40pm we called the Greek coastguard in Piraeus and forwarded the boat’s position, and in a second call also their phone number. We were told that the coastguard had started a rescue operation. At 3.35pm we called the person who had informed us first about this boat and learned that the travellers had safely arrived in Greece. Some minutes afterwards also the travellers confirmed to us via WhatsApp that they had been rescued.
At 11.25 we received a WhatsApp message from a contact person, providing us with a GPS position of a boat in distress on its way to the Greek island of Samos, with 45 people on board (case 4). Unfortunately we were not able to reach the travellers directly and thus decided not to alert the Turkish coastguard. Only in the late afternoon of the next day we were able to speak to them. They had been intercepted by the Turkish coastguard and were brought back to Turkey.
Last update: 19:12 Feb 13, 2016
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