Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 27th of November 2019
Case name: 2019_11_27-AEG630
Situation: 25 travellers rescued to Chios and 30 travellers rescued to Samos by the Greek coast guard.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Wednesday the 27th of November, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted to two boats in the Aegean sea. The first boat, carrying 25 travellers was rescued to Chios, whilst the second boat, carrying 30 travellers, was rescued to Samos.

At 0.20am CET we were alerted by a relative to a boat carrying 25 people, including seven children, heading towards Chios. We reached the travellers, and they told us that their engine had stopped working. We immediately called the Greek coast guard and passed on the information that we had. At 0.39am we received an updated position from the travellers, which we passed on to the coast guard. At 1.06am we called the coast guard again, and they confirmed that they had rescued the boat. At 8.07am we got a confirmation from the relative that the travellers had arrived safely.

At 5.30am another relative alerted us to a group of 30 travellers, including many children, close to Samos. The relative could no longer reach the boat. At 5.48am we managed to establish a direct connection to the boat. At 5.52am we received the position of the travellers, showing that they were on land. However, when calling the boat they told us that they were still at sea, and that their engine had stopped working. At 6.03am we called the Greek coast guard and passed on the information we had. After this we were no longer able to reach the travellers. At 7.30 the relative sent us an updated position, which we passed on to the coast guard. The coast guard confirmed in the call that they were carrying out a search and rescue operation. An hour later the coast guard confirmed to us that the travellers had been rescued.