Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 24th of September 2019

Case name: 2019_09_24-AEG579
Situation: 3 boats in distress, 2 of them brought back to Turkey, 1 to Greece. 1 group stuck after landing on Symi Island.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded / Unconfirmed
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases:
On Tuesday, 24th of September 2019 the Alarm Phone worked on four cases:
At 03:23am CEST we received the first alert from a group of 14 travelers, among them 4 children, according to the people. They were in distress in Turkish territorial waters, so we informed the Turkish Coastguard who conducted the rescue and brought them back to Turkey.
At 04:48am CEST we received the second alert from a boat close to Lesvos in Greek waters. We informed the Greek Coastguard and the travelers were rescued to Greece.
At 06:51pm CEST we received the third alert from a group of 15 people, among them 2 children, according to the travelers. They were stuck on the east coast of Symi Island. We informed the Coastguard of the Island who confirmed the rescue of 12 adults and 1 child.
The fourth alert came from a boat on its way towards Samos Island in Turkish territorial waters at 09:46pm CEST. There were 45-50 people, among them 25 children in distress. We informed the Turkish Coastguard who was already aware of the case and confirmed the rescue at 10:51pm.

Case 1: At 03:23am CEST our shift team received a distress call and a GPS location from a group of approx. 14 travelers, among them 4 children. They were around 4km away from the Turkish mainland, in Turkish territorial waters close to the mouth of the Büyük Menderes river. At 03.37am we informed the Turkish Coastguard about the case. At 03:48am they called us back, asking for phone numbers on board because there were several boats in distress close to the location we had given to them. We passed them the number we had. From now on we could not re-establish a contact to the travelers and at 04:21am we called the Turkish Coastguard again and learned that they could not get through to them, either. They agreed on informing us if they had news. We continued to try and talk to the travelers via phone call and WhatsApp but without success. At 05:01am we sent an e-mail to the Turkish Coastguard with all our information on the case. For the next hours we could neither get through to the travelers nor get new information from the Coastguard. At 7:25am we talked to the Turkish Coastguard again and learned that there had been a rescue but they could not confirm it was the group we were investigating about. At 07:35am we sent another e-mail to them asking for the place the people had been brought to. At 07:49am they answered that a group of 18 people with children among them had been brought to Aydin Didim. We assumed this was our case but did not receive a final confirmation by the travelers.

Case 2: At 04:48am CEST we received a GPS location and three phone numbers of a boat in distress via a contact person. They were south of Lesvos in Greek territorial waters. After no one picked up during half an hour we informed the Greek Coastguard in Mytilene at 05:38am via phone call and e-mail. We still could not get through to the travelers and at 06:43am we called the central office of the Greek Coast Guard in Piraeus for news. They told us the rescue was just carried out and we should call in 15 minutes to get a confirmation. At 07:07am they confirmed the rescue of the group, but we did not get a direct confirmation by the travelers.

Case 3: At 06:51pm CEST we were informed by a contact person about a group of 15 people, among them 2 children, who were stuck in a mountain in the east of Symi island, Greece, after disembarking there. We received two phone numbers, but both were unavailable. At 07:42pm we sent an e-mail to the Coastguard of the island informing them about the case. When we called at 07:45pm, we learned from the Coastguard that they had already rescued a group of 13 people, among them 1 child. Comparing the phone numbers, we figured out that the group was the one we had been informed about.

Case 4: At 09:46pm CEST we received the information about a boat in distress with a GPS location and a phone number of the people on board. At 10:05pm we spoke to them, there were 45-50 persons, among them 25 children. At 10:10pm we received a new position, which was in Turkish territorial waters. We called the Turkish Coastguard at 10:13pm and learned that they had already been alerted by the travelers themselves and had received the GPS location. At 10:28pm we sent an e-mail with all the information to the Coastguard and at 10:44pm we asked for a confirmation of the rescue via e-mail. We received it at 10:51pm.