09/01: Two boats rescued by Sea Watch, whilst the fate of 18 travellers remains unclear

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 09th of January 2020
Case name: 2020_01_09-CM220
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to three groups of travellers of which two were rescued by sea Watch whilst the third boat was found empty
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean


Summary of the Case:
On 9th january our shiftteam was alerted to three cases in the central Mediterranean Sea. One boat that had been carrying 13 people was found empty. We do not have any information about what happened to the travellers, whether they drowned, were brought back by the so-called Libyan coastguard or rescued by fishermen. One boat with 17 people was rescued by Sea-Watch3, and another boat with 41 people was also finally rescued by Sea-Watch3 after a long and repeated delay of rescue operation by Armed Forces of Malta. Only civil fleet could help again to save lives!

In the morning we received a distress call from a boat. We were told by the person on the boat that they were around 13 people, among them four children and five women. The motor wasn't running anymore, water was entering the boat and people were panicking. We received their GPS positions at 11:01h.
All competent authorities and relevant NGOs were informed. At 14:44h CET Sea Watch's boat found an empty fiber glass boat with blue hull and white top, matching any description we had of the boat. The fate of the 13ppl is still unclear as the so called Lybian Coast-guard never responded to our demands if they had rescued these people.

At 15:39h CET our shift team was contacted about another boat in distress in the central Mediterranean. The travelers told us they were 18 people, among them 8 children. Water was entering the boat and they didn't know how long they could survive in this situation, the travellers were panicking. Sea Watch's plane Moonbird informed us that they spotted a boat close to the position we had been provided with 18ppl,including 8 children.
We informed all competent authorities and forwarded the GPS-positions we got from the travellers. At 19:48CET the rescue boat from the NGO Sea-Watch found this boat. One hour later, everybody was safe onboard Sea-Watch3.

Later in the evening our shift team was called by travellers on a boat coming from Sabratah (Libya). They were 41 persons onboard, among them many children. At 17.05 the travellers sent us their position. At 17:15 we informed Maltese authorities by email about this case, with the exact position. Weather conditions were dangerous and night was coming so we demanded direct/ immediate rescue. The Maltese coast-guard informed us that they already had a vessel in the area and that they got help from a Frontex aircraft. We got a new position at 18:35h CET and informed Maltese authrities again. One hour later, there was still no news about a rescue. We were in contact with the travellers who were desperate. At 20:04 the people on the boat gave us a new position, which we again forwarded to the Maltese coastguard, urging them to act fast. However, they told us that they were busy, and refused to provide us with information about rescue efforts. Throughout the evening we received more positions from the boat, which we forwarded to the Maltese authorities. The travellers were very anxious and began to panick, the hours passed and nobody seemed to look for them contrary to what we had been told at 17:15h. We were regularely in contact with the people on the boat who were in a situation of increased panic, putting everyone on board in danger. At midnight we called Malta again and got a confirmation that they had commenced a rescue operation which would reach the area within 4 hours.
At 02:48h, we called RCC Malta. They said they had been in contact with Sea-Watch to tell them that a Maltese rescue boat was on its way. Finally Sea-Watch informed us that they had conducted the rescue, everybody was safe onboard and they were now waiting for Maltese SAR. At 06:58h Sea-Watch informed us again they would leave the area, as no Maltese rescue asset was in sight.

This case is an example of how Armed Forces of Malta and the RCC gave us wrong informations, delayed rescue operation, tried to stop the NGO rescue ship to go on scene and conduct the rescue. They told us several times a rescue asset has been sent, even giving us an ETA. This was a deliberate lie to us. Only civil fleet could help again to save lives!