Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 26th of January 2020

Case name: 2020_01_26-CM225
Situation: 102 travelers in distress in the Libyan SAR-Zone, Libyan and Maltese rescue actors deny responsibility, finally rescued by the Ocean Viking.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On 26th of January 2020 in the morning the Alarm Phone was contacted by 102 people who had started from Tripoli, Libya during the night. The call was interrupted, and we could only understand the GPS location partly. We could not re-establish the connection. We sent an e-mail about the case to the so-called Libyan Coastguard and at 02:01pm CET we were informed via e-mail that they were collaborating with a Maltese Patrol Aircraft that had spotted three rubber boats within the Libyan Search and Rescue Zone. At 03:01pm we received another e-mail from the Libyan authorities that was also addressed to the Maltese Coastguard, stating that they did not have rescue assets available to take care of the distress cases. Given this information, at 04:08pm we sent an e-mail to the Maltese and Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centers (MRCCs) and asked them to act and support the so-called Libyan Coastguard in the rescue operation. During the whole day, we could not re-establish a contact to the travelers.
At 04:20pm we called the Maltese MRCC. We wanted to pass them the number of the traveler’s satellite phone, but they refused to copy it and stated not to be responsible. When we said that we were aware about the Libyan authorities asking for Maltese assistance in the Libyan SAR-Zone, the Maltese authorities denied this. After this we called the Italian MRCC at 04:30pm and passed them the phone number of the travelers. They did not give out information about the rescue operation but seemed irritated when we told them that the Maltese Coastguard claimed not to be in charge. The Alarm Phone went public and tweeted about this situation of different actors not taking responsibility. We publicly called on all actors in the area, including commercial vessels, to immediately rescue the people, to bring them to a place of safety in Europe, according to international human right conventions, and not return them to Libya. At 06:00pm we sent an e-mail to all relevant rescue actors, sending them the phone number of the travelers again and asking them to inform us about the further steps taken. For the next hours we tried to get through to the travelers, without success. We also tried to talk to the Libyan authorities but could not get through.
At 07:24pm we received an e-mail from the Maltese Coastguard, addressed to the Libyan authorities as answer to their request for assistance, saying that the civil rescue ship Ocean Viking would search for a boat in the Libyan SAR-Zone and that the Maltese Coastguard would coordinate the rescue of another boat in the Maltese SAR-Zone. During the night we received the confirmation that the Ocean Viking had rescued one boat in the Libyan SAR-Zone and another boat in the Maltese SAR-Zone, and the people who had reached out to the Alarm Phone were among the survivors.