13/11: One boat rescued North of Lesvos by Greek coast guard; one boat rescued East of Lesvos by Turkish coast guard

14.11.2019 / 15:20 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 13th of November 2019
Case name: 2019_11_13-AEG620
Situation: 33 people started from Turkey, rescued North of Lesvos; 8 people, 1 pregnant woman, 1 baby 20 days old, started from Turkey, rescued to Turkey from East of Lesvos
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On November 13th the Alarm Phone was alerted to two situations in the Aegean Sea near Lesvos. The first group of 30 travellers were rescued by the Greek coastguard and brought to Lesvos. The second group of eight travellers were brought back to Turkey.

Case 1:
At 00:59am CET the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boath with 30 travellers including children. Their GPS position was received at 01:05am, in the Greek search and rescue zone and on the border to Greek territorial waters, North East of Lesvos. The Greek coastguard in Piraeus was passed this information, including the number of travellers and their phone numbers via e-mail at 01:19am. In addition, the Greek coastguard was informed of the case via phone at 01:22am, where they confirmed that a rescue in the area was ongoing. At 02:18am the Greek coastguard confirmed that they had rescued a boat with 33 people. The people on boat confirmed they had safely reached Lesvos at 03:35am.

Case 2:
The Alarm Phone was alerted to a situation of a boat with eight travellers, among them a pregnant woman and a 20-day-old newborn. The GPS position of the boat was on the border line between the Turkish and Greek search and rescue zones. At 11:38pm the Greek coastguard in Piraeus was informed via phone, and confirmed that they would start a search and rescue operation. In addition, an e-mail was sent at 00:05am including all information available to the Alarm Phone. At 00:26am the Alarm Phone received the names of two travellers on the boat, which were passed on to the Greek coastguard, who informed the Alarm Phone the operation was ongoing but no boat had been found at the GPS coordinates the Alarm Phone had forwarded. At 1:36am the Alarm Phone was informed by the people on the boat that they were with the Turkish coast guard. This information was passed to the Greek coastguard in Piraeus at 01:40am via phone and e-mail. The people spoke about an attack by a boat with men wearing clothes with Greek flags. We are investigating the case.

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