08/02: Alarm Phone alerted to 4 boats in distress near Lesvos, Chios and Samos

09.02.2016 / 15:51 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 8th of January 2016

Case 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
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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