Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 6th of December 2015

Case name: 2015_12_06-AEG149
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 11 distress cases in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Sunday the 6th of December 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 11 distress situations in the Aegean region. 4 groups were rescued by the Greek coastguards while 1 other group was rescued by the Turkish coastguards. 3 groups reached Greek islands independently and one of 3 groups that had stranded on Greek islands was rescued by Greek authorities while a confirmation for the rescue of the other two groups could not be obtained so far. One of the groups that had stranded on Farmakonisi was not rescued so far and remained stuck on the island with many other travellers.

At 00:45am we received the information that a group of people had stranded on the Greek island of Agathonisi (case 1). When we tried to reach the group directly we received the message that the number was out of service. At 1.55pm we learned through a contact person that the group had been rescued.

At 2.54am an activist informed us via WhatsApp about a vessel in distress carrying about 150 people, including 50 children, south-east of Lesvos (case 2). At 3am we were able to reach the travellers directly and they told us that water was entering their vessel. The Greek coastguards noted down all the information at 3.07am. At 4am our initial contact person told us that the people had reached Lesvos independently and were safe.

The same contact person as of case 2 informed us at 4:43am about another group in distress, this time concerning 38 people, including 8 children and a pregnant woman in pain, who had stranded on the Greek island of Ro (case 3). We contacted the group and asked them to call the international emergency number 112 and send us their updated GPS position. We then notified the Greek coastguards at 5.30am and they stated that they knew about this case and had already informed the Port Authority of Kastellorizo. At 8.45am we called the group again and found out that they were still waiting and were wet and very cold. At 8.50am Kastellorizo Port Authority said that they would send out a vessel an hour later. The group informed us at 11.15am that they were still on the island and the Port Authority explained that the weather was very bad and that they would rescue later on. We spoke to the travellers who said that the weather was fine and even sent on a picture as evidence. We then got in touch with the Greek coastguards at noon and they confirmed that they would follow up on the case as well. Shortly afterwards we learn through various other networks that many people had just been rescued off the small island, so while we were unable to speak to the group in question again we presume that they were amongst them.

At 5.04am we received a distress case via WhatsApp, concerning a vessel in distress near Lesvos carrying between 13-30 people (case 4). Several other individuals and group alerted us to the same case. We spoke to the Greek coastguards at 6.25am and they confirmed that they knew about this incident and had already sent out a rescue vessel to the area. At 1.55pm we finally received the confirmation that the people had been rescued and were safe.

At 6.30am a contact person sent us a GPS position via WhatsApp and alerted us to a group of about 35 people, including children, that was in a situation of distress (case 5). We received various phone numbers but could not get hold of the travellers directly. We then spoke to the Turkish coastguards and they confirmed that they would look into the situation. The information that the people had been rescued to Turkey reached us at 10.35am.

At 9.18am we were informed via Facebook about another vessel in distress near Lesvos (case 6). We were unable to reach the travellers and contacted the Greek coastguards at 9.35am who knew about this case and said that the vessel was still moving forward so that they would simply escort it. At 10.40am we received the confirmation that the group had safely arrived.

At around the same time, we received a distress call through a contact person who told us about 44 people, including 15 children, who entered a situation of distress when trying to reach Lesvos (case 7). We spoke to the travellers directly at 9.22am and they said that they were in great danger of capsizing and they also informed us that they could see two fishing vessels nearby. We informed the Greek coastguards at 9.25am. Shortly afterwards we were informed that the vessel in distress was towed toward Lesvos island and at 9.48am we received the confirmation that they had safely reached the beach.

We learned about two emergency situations at 9.45am concerning a group in distress near Kalolimnos and one near Lesvos (case 8 and case 9). The latter group confirmed at 10am that they had been rescued to Lesvos. We sought to reach the travellers near Kalolimnos directly but were able to do so only at 2.10pm when they confirmed that they had been rescued by the Greek coastguards and were now safely on Kalolimnos.

At 5.26pm we received a distress message via Facebook, informing us about a vessel carrying about 45 people, including children, near Farmakonisi (case 10). We contacted the Greek coastguards at 5.50pm. At 7.10am the travellers confirmed that they had reached Farmakonisi by themselves. They had no food and water and needed to be transferred off the island and so we contacted the Greek coastguards again. We learned that several people and groups had been stuck on this island for days a no confirmation of the rescue of the group in question could be obtained.

At 9.24pm we received another distress case via an activist through Facebook (case 11). A vessel was moving toward Lesvos, carrying about 35 people, including 10 children who were at risk of capsizing. The Greek coastguards knew about this vessel when we called them at 9.35pm. At 10pm our initial contact person confirmed that a rescue operation by the Greek coastguards was being carried out.