27/06: 3 cases – Boat with 18 people towards Farmakonisi rescued to Turkey, boat to Farmakonisi rescued to Greece, 31 people around Bodrum returned to Turkey

28.06.2019 / 09:13 / Aegean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 27th of June 2019
Case name: 2019_06_27-AEG540
Situation: 18 people to Farmakonisi rescued to Turkey, boat to Farmakonisi rescued to Greece, 31 people around Bodrum returned to Turkey
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean

Summary of the Case: On Thursday the 27th of June our shiftteam was alerted to three boats in the Aegean Sea.
At 11:43pm CEST we were alerted to a speedboat carrying 18 people heading towards Farmakonisi. Over the next few hours we received GPS updates and learned that their engine kept starting and stopping. At 3:20am the group asked us to contact the Turkish coastguard. At 4:40am the Turkish coastguard confirmed the rescue of 22 people. At 10:35am the next day we received confirmation from the travellers that the Turkish coastguard had picked them up.
The second alert reached our shiftteam at 2:19am CEST from a boat with 36 travellers near to Kos. At 2:29am our shiftteam alerted the Greek Coastguard, who had just arrived on scene and confirmed the ongoing rescue of the boat. At 9:24am the next morning the people also confirmed their rescue.
The third alert came in at 2:57am CEST by a boat in the area of Bodrum. The 31 travellers (incl. 18 women and 2 children) had already alerted the Turkish Coastguard, who confirmed at 4:50am the rescue of the boat in question.

Last update: 09:29 Jul 03, 2019

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