16/03 19 people arrived safely on the Greek island of Agathonisi

17.03.2018 / 10:00 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations - 16th of March 2018

Case name: 2018_03_16-AEG349
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 19 people on a boat in distress, arrived safely on the Greek island of Agathonisi
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Friday, the 16th of March 2018 at 5am, a contact person informed the Alarm Phone about a boat heading towards the Greek island of Agathonisi, with 19 people on board, including 10 women and 4 children. He forwarded several GPS position to us and asked us to alert the Greek coastguard. We called the coastguard's headquarter in Piraeus at 5.16am and forwarded all information we had obtained so far. At 5.23am, we received an updated GPS position of the boat, which showed it only 700 metres away from the island's shores. We also forwarded this position to the Greek coastguard in Piraeus, and also sent to them all the information of the case via email. At 5.42am, the coastguard called us back and asked for news. They had sent a rescue vessel to the area, but it would need some time to arrive there. At 5.57am, the contact person informed us that the travellers had safely arrived on the Greek island of Agathonisi. We called the coastguard at 6am and informed them accordingly. They thanked us for the good news, as they had not been able to find the boat.

Last update: 21:02 Mar 19, 2018

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