Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 17th of January 2020
Case name: 2020_01_17-CM222
Situation: A wooden boat in distress that had departed from Libya carrying 50 travelers was rescued by Ocean Viking.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: At 02:05 AM CET the Alarm Phone received a call from a blue wooden boat in distress that had departed from Libya. The boat was carrying 39 travellers, including 5 women. The travellers were desperately asking for help as the engine was broken, they could not move and water was entering the boat. At 02:14 we informed by email both the Libyan coastguard and the ngo boat Ocean Viking. Twice the travelers updated us with a new GPS position, in both instances we immediately transferred the new position to the Libyan coastguard and to Ocean Viking, this happened at 02:44 and 03:16 respectively. At 03:38 we were copied in an email from Ocean Viking to the Libyan coastguard stating that Ocean Viking had spotted the boat in distress. At 04:07 we were copied in another email by Ocean Viking to the Libyan coastguard informing that they had assessed the situation, and the wooden boat was considered unseaworthy and overcrowded. The situation was of distress and the travelers in danger, therefore Ocean Viking would proceed to undertake a rescue operation. At 05:05 we were similarly informed that that the rescue operation had been completed and all the travellers were safe.