10/10: 3 boats in the Aegean, one brought back to Turkey, 2 rescued to Greece

11.10.2018 / 14:32 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 10th of October 2018

Case name: 2018_10_10-AEG439
Situation: 3 boats in the Aegean: One brought back to Turkey, two rescued to Greece
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases:

On Wednesday, 10th of October, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 3 boats in the Aegean Sea. One boat on its way to Farmakonisi island with 9 people on board was brought back to Turkey. A group of 49 people who had already landed on Farmakonisi island got eventually picked up by the Hellenic Coastguard and was brought to Leros. The third boat was rescued by the Hellenic Coastguard to Samos.
On the same day a tragedy happened when a boat sank near Lesvos island. Nine dead bodies were found, one woman rescued and at least 25 people are still missing.

Case 1: At 4:57am CEST we were alerted to a boat carrying 9 people that were on their way to Farmakonisi island. They were travelling on a speed boat and the engine had stopped. Their position was still in Turkish waters and they asked for assistance. At 5:07am we managed to establish a connection to the boat but couldn’t find out more about their situation. At 5:33am we called the Turkish Coast Guard that promised to send assistance. We also wrote an email to the respective authorities to document the alert. At 8:19am we received an email that informed us about the rescue of the boat to Didim in Turkey. We couldn’t establish a connection any more to the travellers to confirm their safe arrival.

Case 2: At 5:20am CEST we were informed about a group of 49 people that had landed on Farmakonisi island. We managed to establish a connection and received their GPS position, but we couldn’t communicate much more due to language barriers. We called JRCC Piraeus at 5:50am to inform them about the group. We also sent an email with all respective information. A contact person informed us that the group then had been transferred to Leros island. We called Leros port authority at 11:35am to confirm, and they stated that the group would be transferred to the island shortly after. We couldn’t establish a connection to the group anymore to confirm directly with the people.

Case 3: At 6:37am CEST we were alerted to a boat carrying 47 people on its way to Samos. We also received their GPS position. The boat was already in Greek waters. We couldn’t establish a connection to the boat. At 6:55am we called the JRCC Piraeus and informed them about the information given to us. They informed us that they had just rescued a boat at the location we gave them with a fitting number of people on board. The contact person confirmed the rescue to Samos.

The same day, we receive news about a boat that had left from Izmir the 8th of October and had capsized on its way to Lesvos. One woman managed to reach the shore 28 hours later and alerted the authorities, that hence retrieved 9 corpses of the sea, and at least 25 people remain missing. The Alarm Phone was not in contact with the travellers. We want to express our deep condolences to the families and friends of those dead or missing.
Last update: 14:52 Oct 27, 2018
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

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