Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 9th of August 2019
Case name: 2019_08_09-CM181
Situation: Boat in distress in the central Mediterranean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Friday the 9th of August 2019, at approximately 21h, the Alarm Phone was called by a wooden boat in distress off the coast of Libya, carrying 45 people, including 1 woman. They were in dire need of rescue. They were later rescued by the NGO Open Arms.

At 21.23h, we informed the Maltese authorities to the distress situation, including the position of the boat. At 21.35h, RCC Malta confirmed that they were looking into the situation. At 21.58h, the people on board tried to give us a new GPS position but were unable to relay it. They said that several people on board were sick. When we received an updated position, we forwarded it to the Maltese authorities at 22.08h.

As the credit of the satellite phone was dropping, we charged their phone so that they could continue to make distress calls. At 22.26h, we forwarded the emails we had sent to the Maltese authorities also to the NGO Open Arms who were not far from the location of distress. At 22.30h, RCC Malta confirmed that they would launch a rescue operation.

At 00.05h, the people on board stated that a helicopter was circling above them. They said several people were very sick and drinking sea water. We believed this helicopter to be the Augusta Westland 139.

At 00.57h, RCC Malta stated that the Open Arms was in the area and about to conduct a rescue operation. Open Arms later confirmed that they had carried out a successful rescue operation.