20/08: Alarm Phone in direct contact with travellers in distress in Central Med, rescued by Italian coastguard

21.08.2016 / 19:55 / Central Mediterranean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 20th of August 2016

Case name: 2016_08_20-CM78
Situation: Alarm Phone in direct contact with travellers in distress in Central Med, rescued by Italian coastguard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Saturday, the 20th of August 2016 at 7.27am, Father Mussie Zerai informed the Alarm Phone about a boat in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea, with about 180 people on board, including many women and children, one of them in very urgent need of medical help. They had left Libya at 11pm the day before and were in distress, because the captain of the boat had left it and it was floating around. Mussie Zerai provided us with the travellers’ Thuraya satellite phone number and their GPS position. At 7.39am, we called the satellite phone and were asked to call the Italian coastguard. We did so at 7.49am and were told that that the coastguard was already aware of the boat in distress. At 8.06am, we called the travellers on board of the boat again and informed them that the Italian coastguard was aware of their situation of distress. Beyond that, we were told that the boat had run out of fuel. At 8.19am, we checked the Thuraya’s credit and recharged it with 10 units. At 9.06am, we called the travellers again, but due to a bad connection we were not able to obtain an updated position. At 9.08am, the crew of the Sea-Watch 2, which we had informed previously, wrote to us that they and the other vessels of the civilian flotilla were too far away from the boat in distress and not able to intervene. At 9.40am, we talked again to the travellers. Communication was again difficult, but we learned that they were able to see a helicopter and a rescue vessel. Afterwards, we called the Italian coastguard and were told that the helicopter belonged to them and that they were trying to rescue the travellers in distress. We called the travellers again and obtained updated GPS coordinates from them. At 9.50am, we forwarded the new position to the Italian coastguard and the UNHCR via email. At 11.04am, we called the Italian coastguard again and were told that they were still in the process of rescuing. In another call at 2.10pm, the Italian coastguard confirmed to us that they had rescued 95 travellers, but refrained from providing us with further details. In the evening, at 8.35pm, we talked again to the Italian coastguard and were told that all rescue operations on that day had been successfully accomplished, with 573 travellers rescued in total. However, we were not able to get more information on the difference between the 95 rescued travellers and the 180 persons on board of the boat in distress, Mussie Zerai had initially informed us about.
Last update: 20:35 Aug 23, 2016
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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

Related Reports

22:29 May 08, 2018 / Central Mediterranean Sea Kms
07/05: Unknown number of travellers intercepted by Libyan forces
12:22 Jan 24, 2021 / Central Mediterranean Kms
23/01: Around 55 people in distress in the Central Med, fate unclear
14:45 Jun 03, 2015 / Central Mediterranean Sea, Off the coast of Libya Kms
About 110 people in distress in the Central Med, all rescued
14:39 May 15, 2015 / Central Mediterranean Sea, Off the coast of Libya Kms
Three vessels in distress near Libya, all rescued