Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 1st of November 2015

Case name: 2015_11_01-AEG116
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 7 boats in distress near Chios, Kos, Farmakonisi and Samos and to 4 groups who had stranded on Glaros, Nera, Farmakonisi and Kastellorizo
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Sunday the 1st of November 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 11 groups of travellers in distress in the Aegean Sea. While 7 boats were in distress at sea near the Greek islands of Chios, Kos, Farmakonisi and Samos, 4 groups had stranded on Glaros, Nera, Farmakonisi and Kastellorizo.

At 1am we received the phone number and coordinates of a boat in distress between Çeşme/Turkey and the Greek island of Chios via WhatsApp (case 1). We called the Greek coastguard and were told that the travellers had to call 112 themselves. We talked to the boat again and asked them to do so. Afterwards we again talked to the Greek coastguard and urged them to conduct a rescue operation. But according to them the boat was still in Turkish waters. At 2.10am a contact person informed us that high waves and the current had pushed the boat into Greek waters. We tried to talk to the travellers again but were not able to reach them. In another call to the Greek coastguard we learned that the travellers had arrived on land.

At 2.40am a contact person informed us about a boat in distress south of the Greek island of Kos (case 2). We were provided with the travellers’ phone number and tried to call them, but without success. Nevertheless, we alerted the Greek coastguard and they promised to search the boat. At 3.10am we learned that they had stranded on Kos. At 4.45am we received another WhatsApp message, informing us that the travellers, a group of 50, were still in need of help. We were provided with their location at the southern coast of Kos, alerted the port authorities and urged them to pick up the travellers. At 5.25am we received a message, stating that the travellers had spotted a boat approaching them.

At 4am we were alerted via WhatsApp to a boat in distress east of Farmakonisi, with 35 travellers on board (case 3). We were told that the situation was very difficult and that water was entering the boat. We tried to call the travellers directly but did not reach them. Thus we alerted the Greek coastguard. Again they promised to search for the boat. At 5.30am we were informed by the coastguard that they were rescuing a boat in distress in this area.

At 6.45am a contact person informed us about a boat in distress northeast of Samos and forwarded a phone number to us (case 4). Again, we alerted the Greek coastguard and they promised to search for the boat in distress.

At 7am we were called by a contact person who informed us about a group of travellers who had stranded on the uninhabited island of Glaros, east of Agathonisi (case 5). She had already informed the Greek coastguard but had not been taken seriously. She also forwarded a phone number to us and we tried to call the travellers directly. Unfortunately they were not reachable. At 11am another contact person alerted us to the same group and forwarded another phone number. We called this number and learned from one of the travellers that the group had been picked up from the island and that they had arrived safely on Agathonisi.

At 7.25am a contact person called the Alarm Phone and informed us about a group of 35 travellers, among them 9 women and 6 children, who had stranded on Nera, another uninhabited island east of Agathonisi, at 4am (case 6). At 7.40am the travellers called us directly and told us that they had lost all their belongings and were wet and freezing. We called the Greek coastguard in Piraeus and also alerted them via e-mail at 8am. At 10am we talked again to the coastguard and were told that the group had been found. Afterwards the port authorities on Agathonisi confirmed this information and told that the group had been picked up from the island.

At 9am a contact person informed us about a group of travellers who had left from Izmir/Turkey at 6am and who had run out of fuel in the Aegean Sea (case 7). Their motor had stopped but they were able to see a Greek island not far away. We asked for coordinates, but the contact person told us that the travellers were not able to forward their position due to missing internet connection. We tried to call the boat directly but were not able to reach them. At 11am we informed the Greek coastguard and forwarded the traveller’s phone number. At 4pm we tried to call the travellers again, but did not reach them.

At 3.30pm a contact person called us and informed us about a group of 12 women, 10 men and 15 children, who had stranded on Farmakonisi (case 8). We agreed to stay in touch and talked again to the contact person twenty minutes later. During this call the contact person was got to know that the travellers had already been picked up from the island. In the evening another contact person informed us that the group had been brought to Leros.

At 4.15pm the Alarm Phone was informed via Facebook about a boat in distress 5 kilometres off the coast of Chios and provided us with a phone number (case 9). We tried to call the travellers directly but were not able to reach them. But already at 4.25pm the contact person wrote to us that the coastguard had come to rescue the group. As their position was clearly in Greek territorial waters we assumed that the Greek coastguard had rescued them.

At 4.45pm we were contacted via Facebook and provided with a phone number and coordinates of a group in need of help (case 10). As the group’s position was on Turkish land we sent links to the ‘Safety at Sea’ brochures to the contact person and asked him to inform us in case that further help is needed. At 5pm we tried to call the travellers directly but did not reach them. Additionally we sent a message, urging them to call us back or to call 112 in case of distress.

At 8.30pm a contact person alerted us to a group of 15 travellers who had stranded on the Greek island of Kastellorizo (case 11). We learned that the group had already called the international emergency hotline 112 but had only reached Turkish-speaking authorities. At 8.45pm we talked to the travellers directly. We were told that no one was injured but that they had 6 infants among them and need to be picked up. We promised to alert the local police and agreed to stay in contact with the group. In a call to the local police at 9pm we were told to ask the travellers if they were able to climb up the rocky coast and to walk to the next village. A rescue vessel would only pick them up if this was not the case. The travellers assured to us that climbing up the steep rocks would not be possible and we again urged the police to send a rescue vessel afterwards. They took the travellers’ coordinates and promised us to pick them up by boat. Only at 11.30pm learned from our initial contact person that the travellers had indeed been picked up by the police and that they were safe.