Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 13th of December 2019

Case name: 2019_12_13-AEG636
Situation: 45 travelers standed on Lesvos, picked up by Greek police; 30 travelers in distress close to Samothraki, rescued by the Greek Coastguard; 45 travelers in distress close to Lesvos, rescued by Greek Coastguard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases:
On 13 December our shift teams were alerted to three cases in the Aegean.
The first alert came from a group of 45 travelers with many children, who had landed North of Skala Mistegnon on Lesvos. At 3:17h CET we called different authorities on Lesvos, but without success. At 3:30h we alerted the Greek coastguard in Piraeus. At 4:18h the police confirmed they had sent a vehicle to pick them up.
The second alert came in the morning to a boat with 30 travelers, among them many women and children near Samothraki. We alerted the Greek coastguard at 8:11h CET and at 9:03h the people themselves confirmed their rescue to us.
The third alert reached our team at 23:44h CET from a boat in distress in the North of Lesvos, carrying 45 people and many children. We informed the Greek coastguard at 23:50h and at 1:50h the travelers confirmed their rescue.

Case 1:
At 03:06am CET the Alarm Phone was contacted by a group of 45 travelers, among them women and children, who had landed on Lesvos, north of Skala Mistegnon. They reported to be freezing and lost. We suggested them to call the police by themselves and that we could additionally call the police. We agreed on this and at 03:17am we called the port police who stated that our concern was not their responsibility and advised us to call the central port of Mytilene. They were not available, so at 03:30am we called the Greek Coastguard’s central office in Piraeus and passed them the information. They said they would forward it to the port police. At 04:02am we talked to the travelers again, they were walking in the direction of Skala Mistegnon. At 04:18am we called the port police again who confirmed to send a vehicle to pick up the people. At 04:49am the travelers confirmed that they had been found by the police.

Case 2:
At 07:56am CET we received a distress call from a group of approximately 30 travelers, among them 10 women and many children, close to Samothraki island. Communication via phone call was almost impossible due to a bad connection but we could communicate via WhatsApp. They reported that water was entering the boat and they did not have any fuel left. At 08:11am we informed the Greek coastguard via phone call and passed them the GPS location and the phone number of the travelers. They said they would send out a vessel to find them and we should stay in contact with the travelers. At 08:28am the Coastguard called us to ask for an update, but we did not have any new information. They confirmed to be searching for the travelers. At 09:03am the travelers informed us via WhatsApp that everyone was safe on the rescue vessel by then.

Case 3:
At 11:44pm we received a distress call from a group of 45 travelers, north-east of Lesvos. They sent us a video from the boat in which several children could be seen. At 11:50pm we called the Greek Coastguard and passed the information, phone number and GPS location. At 00:16am we received a new GPS location from the travelers which we passed to the Greek Coastguard via phone and e-mail. At 00:48am we called the Coastguard again and learned that they had spotted a boat close to the indicated location. At 01:50am we received a confirmation of the rescue from the travelers, they were brought to Lesvos.