Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 22nd of August 2015

Case name: 2015_08_22-CM41
Situation: 6 vessels in distress in the Central Med, all rescued
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea, Libya

Summary of the Cases:: On Saturday the 22nd of August 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to six different emergency situations in the Central Mediterranean Sea. Coordinated by the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome, 22 rescue operations were launched in total during which a record number of travellers, approximately 4400, were rescued. From about 5.56am until the late evening when the success of the rescue operations was confirmed, our shift teams worked tirelessly on various distress cases. In two cases we were in continuous direct contact with the travellers and in all cases we were able to monitor the credit level on the satellite phones kept by the people on board. We successfully recharged some of these phones so that they could be continuously used. Our shift teams were also in direct contact with the private rescue vessel Sea-Watch which was involved in the rescue of people on two rubber vessels in the Central Med (see source 1).

The first distress case came in in the early morning, at approximately 5.56am. Father Mussie Zerai forwarded a satellite phone number of people in distress in the Central Med and asked us to work on the case (case 1). While Father Zerai reached out to the people on board again, we checked the credit on their satellite phone which was sufficient for them to keep making calls. At 5.59am we received the GPS position of the vessel and then, shortly afterwards, were able to speak to them directly. They reported that they were a group of 500 people and that they could see other vessels in vicinity, though unable to detect what flags they were flying. They also told us that the people in the hold, below deck, were at risk of suffocating. We agreed to reach out to the Italian coastguards before contacting them again. We informed MRCC Rome about the distress situation and passed on the received details. After checking the GPS position they stated that the vessel was still close to the Libyan coast and that, therefore, the Libyan coastguard should intervene. We argued that the GPS position might be from hours earlier and they may have moved further north in the meantime. We urged them to launch a rescue operation rather than letting those seeking to escape Libya be returned there. During this phone conversation with MRCC Rome, at approximately 6.40am, the travellers contacted us again and we asked for updated coordinates. Only about a minute later they were able to pass on coordinates that showed them outside of Libyan waters. While confirming that these coordinates were outside of Libya’s territorial waters, MRCC Rome remarked that the vessel was nonetheless far away from Italy. We explained the dangerous situation for the travellers on and below deck once again and MRCC Rome then agreed to launch an operation and send rescue vessels to the location of distress. At 7.03am we contacted the vessel and explained to them what MRCC Rome had said. We told them that they would presumably have to wait several hours before rescue forces would arrive. We agreed to communicate only once every half an hour or so to save the battery of the satellite phone. At 8.20am we also contacted the Maltese coastguards and informed them about the distress situation. We also told them about a vessel that seemed to be in vicinity. They said that they were not informed about this case but knew that Italy was dealing with the situation. After several attempts we were able to reach the travellers again at about 8.35am who passed on updated coordinates. They told us that the situation on board was becoming increasingly dangerous for the passengers and they were scared that the two speed boats they could see in the distance had smugglers on board. Shortly afterwards we passed on these newly obtained coordinates to MRCC Rome. At 8.45am they passed on new coordinates once again. They said that one vessel was approaching them which scared them. We again turned to MRCC Rome and they thanked us for updating them about the situation so regularly. However, they could not give us an estimate about how long it would take for them to reach the vessel in distress. At 9.30am the travellers contacted us again with their new GPS positon and we agreed to be in touch again one hour later. We swiftly passed on the GPS position to the Italian authorities. They told us that there were several distress situation off the coast of Libya at the moment. At 9.49am, the travellers called us and reported that MRCC Rome had reached out to them to ask whether they could see a big white vessel in vicinity. During the conversation they could not see it but now they could but were unable to notify MRCC Rome. They asked us to forward this information which we immediately did. We also asked the group to stay calm and seated when approached by the white vessel. In several phone calls with both the travellers and MRCC Rome we passed information back and forth and charged the satellite with credit in the meantime. Then, contact could not be re-established anymore. Since MRCC Rome had confirmed that rescue was near, we took this as a positive sign, suggesting that a rescue operation had already taken place during which the satellite phone might have been discarded.

A few hours earlier, at 10.27am, we had received three more emergency cases from Father Zerai (case 2, 3 and 4). While we were never able to get through to any of the people in distress, despite reaching out to them again and again, we could alert both the Italian and Maltese authorities to the cases and pass on the received satellite phone numbers. MRCC Rome thanked us for the updates and were clearly dealing with various emergency situations at once. At least for vessel 4 Father Zerai was able shortly afterwards to obtain the confirmation that MRCC Rome was in the process of rescuing its passengers.

At around noon, we were alerted to yet another emergency situation (case 5). While we could see that they were in contact with someone else, via the decreasing credit on their satellite phone over time, we were unable to get in touch with them directly. We again alerted MRCC Rome to the case and they promised to look into it. Finally, at 1.15pm, we spoke to the travellers directly. The person we spoke to was clearly in panic, repeatedly calling for rescue. The phone was passed on to another person who informed us that there were 300 people on three different vessels, amongst them women and children. They did not know what their GPS position was and we instructed them on how to find them. Communication broke down several times and they were unable to locate their position. They informed us that they had left Libya 10 hours earlier but could not say where exactly they had left from. They had run out of water and food and were getting increasingly anxious. A few minutes later we contacted MRCC Rome and they informed us that a vessel was already out there, looking for the travellers. 5 minutes later, at 1.30pm we informed the people in distress and asked them to stay calm and wait for the rescue. We agreed to communicate again about 1 hour later. At 2.30pm the people on board were clearly desperate. The engine of their vessel was malfunctioning, and they had stopped to move. They could not see any vessels in vicinity. On their vessel, one of the three vessels that had left Libya together, there were 130 people. They could still see the two other vessels and all three were white plastic vessels. Asked again about their position our contact person on board said ‘We are migrants, we do not know Libya’. He said that we were the only contact that they had. After contacting MRCC Rome again we reached out to the vessel at 3pm and at 4.17pm to update them about the ongoing rescue operation. They reported that their situation had not changed and that no vessel was approaching them. Afterwards, contact to the travellers could not be re-established.

At 3.19pm we were also informed about another distress situation by Father Zerai (case 6). He passed on a satellite phone number as well as coordinates of the vessel. They seemed still very close to the Libyan coast, near Sabratah. We sought to reach them several times but were not able to do so. We passed the phone number as well as the GPS position on to MRCC Rome.

In the late evening our shift team was informed by MRCC Rome that all people in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea had been rescued and were safe. They said that an official confirmation would be circulated during the next say. On Sunday the 23rd of August, the rescue of all 4400 people in distress was confirmed, and therewith also the passengers on board of the 6 vessels that the Alarm Phone was alerted to.