WatchTheMed Alarm Phone Investigations – 19th of October 2019
Case name: 201_10_19-CM206
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 Saturday the 19th of October 2019, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a distress case off the coast of Libya. European authorities failed to react to their distress. In the end, the 45 people reached Lampedusa independently.

At 18.02h, we received a call from a boat in distress off the coast of Libya. They stated that there were 45 people on board, including 17 women, some of whom were pregnant, and 3 children. They had run out of food and needed help. When we received their GPS position, we informed RCC Malta and the Ocean Viking via email. RCC Malta could not be reached via the phone. We contacted MRCC Rome at 19.05h who said that they were not the competent authorities for this case. At 19.31h, we informed Malta that the oil tanker Front Sirius was in the vicinity of the boat in distress.

At 19.57h, the people on board passed on their updated position. At 20.25h, they said that water was entering their boat. We updated Malta, Italy, the UNHCR and Ocean Viking via email. Only at 20.47h were we able to reach RCC Malta. They said they had other boats in distress. At 20.49h the people on board said that they were still able to move on. We also passed the number of RCC Malta on to them. At 21.20h we spoke to the people again. They were still able to move on. Afterwards we lost contact to the boat for about two hours.

At 23.12h, we re-established contact to the boat. They were still moving but water was entering their boat. At 23.20h, they told us that especially the pregnant women were suffering and need of help. At 23.34h, we sent another updated GPS position to RCC Malta and MRCC Rome.

At 00.04am, MRCC Rome told us that Malta was responsible. Malta was not reachable.

At 00.08am and 3.15am we spoke to the boat again. The second time we received an updated GPS position which we in turn passed on to the authorities via email.

At 5.30am we spoke to them again. They were still moving on. At 6.29am, MRCC Rome refused to give out any information. At 7.20am the people on board could see an island. At 7.41am they passed on a new position, showing them close to Lampedusa. We in turn informed the authorities via email.

At 8.30am, the Lampedusa Port Authority confirmed to us that a rescue operation had been initiated. In the meantime, the boat could not be reached anymore. At 10.29am, the Lampedusa Port Authority stated that the 45 people had independently reached Lampedusa. Once more, European coastguards failed to assist a boat in distress. The people on board did not give up but steered themselves to safety.