03/11: Shipwreck near Kalolimnos/Greece: Several deaths

04.11.2017 / 18:40 / Kalolimnos, Greece, Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 3rd of November 2017
Case name: 2017_11_03-AEG316
Situation: Shipwreck close to Kalolimnos island, at least 4 people died
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Friday, 3rd of November, at 00:25am, we received information via a contact person about a sinking boat between the Greek island Kalolimnos and Turkey. At 00:28am we called the Greek authority JRCC Piraeus and informed them about the emergency situation. We could not establish direct contact to the people on board. At 00:57 we sent an email to the respective authorities to document the alert. At 00:59am we confirmed with JRCC Piraeus that the search for the boat was ongoing. We still couldn't reach the boat. We called JRCC Piraeus at 03:35am again. They hadn't found the boat yet.

At 05:26 we talked again to the authority that informed us about a rescue operation in the area. At 07:53am they stated that the operation was still ongoing; we didn't receive further information. At 07:58am, we saw that the Kalolimnos Immigrant and Refugee Support Group informed on Facebook about a shipwreck in the area of our case. They stated that 13 people (8 men, 4 women and one child) had been safely transported to Kalolimnos, while one woman had lost her life and about 10 people were still missing. At 11:30am we called JRCC Piraeus again but didn't get any further information. On 4th of November we received the information of the contact person that in total 4 people had died, 15 had been rescued to Greece and 6 people had gone missing. Also in the media reports emerged about the incident (see sources).
Last update: 18:44 Nov 29, 2017
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