12/05: 3 boats in distress, 40 travelers brought back to Turkey, about 90 travelers rescued by Greek Coast Guard

13.05.2019 / 21:18 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 12th of May 2019

Case name: 2019_05_12-AEG524
Situation: 40 ppl brought to Çeşme by Turkish Coast Guard, 45 ppl brought to Chios by Greek Coast Guard, 46 ppl brought to Samos by Greek Coast Guard
: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases:

On Sunday, 12th of May, our shift teams were alerted to 3 boats in distress in the Aegean Sea. One boat was carrying 45 travelers who were picked up by the Turkish Coast Guard and brought back to Turkey. The second group of 45 people was rescued by the Greek Coast Guard on their way to Chios and the third group of 46 travelers was most probably brought to Samos, rescue was confirmed by the Greek Coastguard.

Case 1: At 2:11am CEST our shift team was alerted about a boat in distress carrying 40 travelers who had left from Turkey. Their location was in Turkish territorial waters. According to our contact person the boat was losing air and the people urgently needed a rescue and had asked to call the Turkish Coast Guard (TCG). At 2:16am we called the TCG and learned that they had already been informed about the case and were sending out a rescue vessel. We tried and reach the travelers again but without success and at 3:10am we called the TCG to ask how the rescue was proceeding. They informed us that the group was at a beach by now, waiting to be picked up from there. Our contact person sent us a current location showing that the travelers were on the small Island Kara Ada. At 3.38am the TCG called us back to inform us that the people were doing fine and had been picked up from the beach to be transferred to Çeşme. At 5:38am we received a confirmation by the travelers that they were doing well.

Case 2: At 7:24am CEST we were alerted to a boat in distress on the way to Chios carrying approximately 45 persons, among them 10 children. The contact person had lost contact to the travelers already an hour ago. At 7:40am we received a current location of the boat which was close to Chios and very close to Greek territorial waters. At 7:45am we called MRCC Piraeus to inform them about the distress case and sent them an e-mail with the corresponding information. At 8:30am we called the Greek Coast Guard again to ask for an update of the rescue procedure and they agreed to let us know in case there were news. We still could not establish a connection to the travelers. At 9:50am we called the Port Authorities on Chios and passed them the GPS location, but they could not provide us with any information. At 10:05am we called them again and they informed us that a boat with 52 people had been rescued. We assumed this could be our case even though the number of people did not match exactly. We could not find out the number of children on the boat which could have been a hint to clarify the question. We assume this was the group in question, but could not get any final confirmation.

Case 3: At 7:48am we were alerted to a boat in distress. At 8:02am we re-established a connection to the travelers and learned that they were on their way to Samos and they were asking for help. We could not find out any more specific information about the number of travelers and their situation. At 8:14am we received their GPS location which was in Greek territorial waters north of Samos. At 8:19am we called MRCC Piraeus to inform them about the distress case and sent them an e-mail with the corresponding information. When we tried to inform the travelers about the action taken, we could not get through to them anymore. At 8:49am we called the Greek Coast Guard again to get news and they asked us to try and get a new position from the travelers, but we could not re-establish a connection. At 9:02 we informed the GCG about the fact that we had lost contact to the travelers. At 9:40am we called the port police on Samos and learned that a boat carrying 46 people had been rescued and had not arrived on the Island yet. At 9:43am we called the MRCC Piraeus for more detailed information and they confirmed the rescue of the boat but could not confirm the number of people. We could not get through to the travelers to get a final confirmation of their rescue because their phone was off.
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