10/11: 46 travellers in distress, rescued to Lesvos/Greece

11.11.2018 / 10:19 / Aegean Sea

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

Case name: 2018_11_10-AEG458
Situation: Distress situation in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Closed
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Saturday the 10th of November 2018, the Alarm Phone was alerted by a contact person at 2.30am to a boat in distress, carrying 46 people. We tried to reach the travellers repeatedly but were unable to get through. At 2.47am we contacted the Greek coastguards and passed on the GPS position of the boat. They told us that they had rescued a boat in the vicinity of the position about 35 minutes earlier. We then agreed to try and verify whether this was the boat in question. We learned via the contact person that most of the travellers were from Africa and when we spoke to the Greek authorities at 3.05am they confirmed that the rescued were mainly from Congo. Afterwards, we were in regular exchange with the authorities and finally we received one day later a message from the travellers who confirmed the rescue to Lesvos.

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