17/10: 40 people in distress returned to Turkey, 16 people stranded on Nimos Island/Greece

18.10.2019 / 09:58 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 17th of October 2019

Case name: 2019_10_17-AEG598
Situation: Boat in distress in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Closed
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Thursday the 17th of October 2019, the Alarm Phone was alerted to two distress situations in the Aegean Sea. A boat with 40 people on board was returned to Turkey by the Turkish coastguards. A group of 16 people had landed their boat on Nimos Island and needed support.

Case 1: The Alarm Phone was alerted at 7.58am CEST by migrant travellers on a boat on its way to Samos. They had lost their engine after they had just crossed the borderline. At 8.10am we alerted the Greek coastguard who confirmed to take care of this case. At 9.00am the Greek coastguard, in a second call, stated they would send a boat to the distressed people but that Turkey was also informed and possibly returning the people to Turkey. At 9:41 the travellers contacted us again, from the boat of the Turkish coastguard. They were worried about detention in Turkey and contacted us also later again from detention in Turkey to describe the bad conditions of the detention facilities and to express again their wish to move freely somewhere to find safety.

Case 2: At 9.38am, our shift team was alerted to a group of 16 stranded travellers on the island of Nimos. At 12:22h the Greek coastguard confirmed their rescue to us.

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