06/10: 2 cases of distress in the AEG, all travellers rescued to Greece

07.10.2017 / 22:13 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 6th of October 2017

Case name: 2017_10_06-AEG310
Situation: 2 cases of distress in the AEG, close to Lesvos and Ro island, all travellers rescued to Greece
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Friday, 6th of October 2017, we were alerted to two distress cases in the Aegean Sea. At 3.32am, a contact person alerted us about a boat carrying 55 people heading towards Lesvos. We could not reach the boat, but the contact person continuously updated us about the position of the boat that was still moving towards the island.
At 4:19am, the contact person informed us that the engine of the boat kept turning off and that one person on board had lost consciousness. At 4:20am, we called the Greek Coast Guard, who stated that they were already searching for a boat close to Lesvos. We also sent an email to document the alert. At 5:59am the contact persons informed us that the travellers had been transferred to a vessel of the Greek Coast Guard. 

At 4:32am, a contact person alerted us to a second distress case: a boat heading towards Ro island with 40 people on board, among them many women and children. We called the boat, which had problems with the engine, but was still moving. Their position was west of Ro Island. We continuously monitored their position as they not in a distress situation. At 6:50am, their engine stopped, but soon after they informed us that it was working again. At 7:20am the travellers informed us that they could see Ro island. When the situation became worse, we informed the Coast Guard at 7:48am about the boat in distress and passed them the latest position. We also sent an email to document the alert. We called the boat again at 7:58am to inform the people and asked them to also call the Coast Guard themselves. At 8:09am we talked to the travellers again. They told us that they had called the Coast Guard 10 minutes earlier, but that no one had showed up yet. We called the Coast Guard again and they confirmed that they had sent a rescue boat. At 09:22am, the travellers confirmed that they had been rescued and that they were all safe on Ro Island.

Last update: 11:32 Oct 29, 2017

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