13/10: 2 boats to Samos island picked up by the Turkish Coast Guard

14.10.2018 / 14:45 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 13th of October 2018

Case name: 2018_10_13-AEG441
Situation: 2 boats to Samos island picked up by Turkish Coast Guard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases:

On Saturday, 13th of October, we have been alerted to 2 different boats on the way towards Samos. Both have been found and brought back by the Turkish Coast Guard.

Case 1: At 9:22pm CEST, we were informed about a boat carrying 45 people that was on its way towards Samos. The contact person transferred us the position of the boat, which was in Turkish waters, and asked us to call the Turkish Coast Guard as the boat was sinking. We couldn’t establish a direct connection to the boat and called the Turkish Coast Guard at 9:30pm. At 9:37pm we managed to speak to the travellers, that informed us that they saw the Coast Guard approaching. At 9:55pm we spoke to the group again, that confirmed that they had been rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard.

Case 2: At 9:57pm we were alerted to a second boat towards Samos with 60 people on board. We contacted the travellers at 10pm. They told us that their engine had stopped working. The connection broke and we couldn’t get through to the travellers anymore. The contact person had sent us their position, which was in Turkish waters, and we informed the Turkish authority at 10:13pm about the boat in distress. We received a new position of the boat that we passed to the Turkish Coast Guard at 10:40pm. At 11:29pm we called again to ask for information. The authorities told us that the boat wasn’t found yet, but they would search with a vessel and a helicopter. At 11:57pm we called to the centre of the Coast Guard in Ankara and they confirmed the rescue.

Last update: 14:53 Oct 27, 2018

Credibility:

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