Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 27th of January 2020

Case name: 2020_01_27-CM226
Situation: 2 boats with 158 travellers, started from Libya and reached Europe
Status of WTM Investigation: concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the Case: On 27 January the Alarm Phone received calls from 2 boats which started the day before in the evening and were about to cross the Mediterranean Sea. All travellers reached Open Arms and were desembarked in Europe.

The first call came in at 08:08 CET, about 50 travellers, including 3 women and 5 children stated to be in a white rubber boat which started the day before at 21:00 in Garabuli, Libya. They informed us that water is about to enter the boat. Further, the shift team received a questionable GPS position which was tried to verified within the next hours. Unfortunately the contact to the travellers was lost. At 11:03 the Alarm Phone finally decided to alert the authorities as the waves at the assumed position were about 0.8 meters high. Therefore an email to the coast guards and NGO vessels in vicinity have been sent. Around 13:00 the contact to the travellers could be reestablished. Communication was difficult and only half of a GPS position was received. Several attempts failed to get the whole position and at 13:30 all information were provided to the authorities and NGO vessels. At 15:35 the travellers called and stated that the situation is worse and that they cannot wait any longer for rescue. In addition another GPS position were transferred verbally. As the shift team feared the boat to be ship wrecked they tried to call the so-called Libyan coast guards, without success. The NGO vessel Open Arms were also informed about the last position and reported at 17:18 to be on spot in about 2 hours. At 18:52 Open Arms informed all authorities to be heading towards the given position and at 19:21 the shift team learned that the first inflatable boat of Open Arms found a rubber boat. The confirmation about the successful rescue came in at 23:05 when Open Arms tweeted to have rescued 56 people in international waters.

The second call from a satellite phone came in at 13:55 CET. The following information were provided: about 70 to 100 travellers, including 3 young teenager, started on a white rubber boat with black deck at 21:00 the day before in Al Kuhms. The engine were not working. In the following hours the shift team tried to get a complete GPS position. Only at 17:32 this was successful so the Alarm Phone provided the authorities and the rescue vessel Open Arms with this position. 40 minutes later Open Arms stated to have been on that reported GPS position without seeing something. Therefore the Alarm Phone tried to establish contact to the travellers in the next hours. At 19:55 our shift team called RCC Malta to ask for news. The only thing RCC Malta did was to collect all information and not to provide any one. At 20:12 the travellers called us again, the shift team heard a lot of noise from wind and water and the travellers themselves were very excited. The engine seems to be working again. 2 hours later the shift team was able to receive another GPS position which was transferred to the authorites and the NGO vessel Open Arms, which stated to be able to reach the position in less than one hour. Until the rescue started the Alarm Phone has been in close contact to the travellers and gave important advises for the rescue operation. At the next day in the morning we got the confirmation that the rescue of 102 people was completed at 02:00 in the early morning.