09/09 45 travellers in distress East of Lesvos, rescued to Greece  

10.09.2017 / 10:00 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 9th of September 2017

Case name: 2017_09_09-AEG302
Situation: Alarm Phone in contact with 45 people in distress east of Lesvos, rescued by Greek Coast Guard to Greece
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Saturday, the 9th of September 2017, at 01:47am, we were alerted by a contact person to a boat in distress, carrying 45 passengers, East of Lesvos. The contact person sent us the position and asked for immediate help as the situation was urgent and the engine of the boat didn't work any more. We called the Greek Coast Guard and they said they would search for the boat. We then contacted the travellers to pass on the information and also stayed in touch with the Coast Guard, passing them updated positions of the boat. We documented the distress alert via email. At 2:34am, the contact person informed us that the engine of the boat was working again. At 3:10am, he told us that the travellers had been rescued. Also the Greek Coast Guard confirmed the rescue to Greece.

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