Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 29th of October 2019

Case name: 2019_10_29-AEG607
Situation: 30 travelers in Greek waters, eight travelers towards Kos island, very close to Greek border, 14 travelers south of Bodrum, all returned to Turkey by Turkish coastguard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded / Unconfirmed
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases:

On 29 October 2019, the Alarm Phone was alerted to three situations of distress:
The first alert came in at 02:11am CET from a boat carrying 30 travelers. Their engine had stopped, and they were trying to row with their hands towards Lesvos. We called the Greek coastguard who stated that the position was in Turkish waters. The travelers were finally brought back to Turkey.
The second alert came in at 05:57am CET from a speedboat on its way towards Kos island, carrying eight travelers. At 7:24CET the Turkish coastguard confirmed their rescue.
The third call reached us at 07:25pm CET from 14 people on a sinking boat south of Bodrum, Turkey. The people had already alerted the Turkish coastguard and their rescue was confirmed at 07:40pm.

Case1:
At 02:11am CET the Alarm Phone was called by a group of about 30 travelers, among them several women, children and babies. Their engine had stopped a couple of hours ago and they had been paddling with their hands since. They sent a GPS location very close to the border in Greek territorial waters and the wind was pushing them toward Lesvos. Then the contact to the people broke off and we could not re-establish it, so at 02:43am we decided to inform the Greek coastguard. When we passed them the GPS location, they stated it was in Turkish waters and urged us to call the Turkish coastguard. From our point of view and according to our map it seemed clear they were in Greek waters. At 02:48am we sent an e-mail to the Greek coastguard with all the information and including the position and then informed as well the Turkish coastguard via phone call and e-mail. At 02:57am the Turkish coastguard called us back and asked us to confirm the GPS location because the one we had passed them was in Greek waters from their point of view and they doubted to be in charge of the rescue. At 03:10am we talked to the Greek coastguard again and told them about this, but they insisted on their point and informed us that at the location two boats in distress had been picked up by the Turkish coastguard. Most probably, the group who had informed us was among them.

Case 2:
At 05:57am CET we were informed about a speedboat carrying 15 travelers on its way towards Kos island, Greece. According to the GPS location, they were at the border to Greek waters and their engine had stopped working. We tried to receive more information about the situation from the people directly, but could not get through to them and at 06:17am we informed the Turkish coastguard via phone call and sent them an e-mail.
We continued trying to reach the travelers but without success, and at 07:24am we called the Turkish coastguard and learned that they had rescued a speed boat at the indicated place, carrying eight people.

Case 3:
At 07:25pm CET a relative of one of the travelers informed us about a sinking boat carrying 12 people. Their GPS location showed them in Turkish waters south of Bodrum. They had already informed the Turkish coastguard by themselves. We tried to contact the travelers but without success and at 07:40pm we called the Turkish coastguard and learned that they had rescued a group of 14 people in that area. We supposed this was the group in question but could not get a direct confirmation of the rescue from the relative or the people themselves.