04/12: 40 travellers in distress, rescued to Agathonisi Island

05.12.2018 / 18:15 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 4th of December 2018

Case name: 2018_12_04-AEG466
Situation: Distress situation in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Closed
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday the 4th of December 2018, at 6.20am CET, the Alarm Phone was alerted by a contact person to a boat in distress near Agathonisi Island. There were about 40 people on board. We established contact to the boat at 6.38am – we heard people calling for help but then the connection broke off. At 6.45am, we alerted the Greek coastguards to the case and forwarded an obtained GPS position. We informed both contact person and the people on the boat that a rescue operation would be launched. The situation was dangerous as the people on board reported of high waves. At 7.10am we received a new GPS position which we forwarded to the Greek coastguards. At 7.57am, the Greek authorities informed us that two boats and a helicopter were searching for the boat. At 8.56am, we received an updated GPS position which we passed on to the Greek coastguards. At 9.02am, the Greek coastguards confirmed that they had just rescued the boat. The people were brought to Agathonisi.

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