Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 23rd May 2020
Case name: 2020_05_23-AEG671
Situation: Although 46 travellers were rescued by Turkish coastguard, this case probably entailed a push-back.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: In the morning of Saturday the 23rd of May the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boat in distress carrying 45 travellers. The boat was in proximity of Samothraki and the engine was broken. After having established direct contact with the travellers, we sent them the telephone number of the Greek coastguard. At 08:36am CET the travellers told us that they had already phoned the Greek coastguard half an our earlier but there was still no help in sight. At 10:20am CET our shift team alerted the Greek coastguard to this distress case. Soon after we spoke again to the travellers who informed us that there were children, an injured person and a pregnant woman on board. They were cold and desperately needed help. At 10:40 am CET our shift team followed up their call to the Greek coastguard by sending an email. At 10:50am CET we called the coastguard back, however due to bad connection we could not understand each other. At 11:35am CET we managed to speak to the Greek coastguard who only told us that they had no new information and then hung up on us. After receiving a new position from the travellers, at 11:54 am CET we passed it on to the Greek coastguard via phone and then via email. At 13:25 the travellers sent us a message that the Greek coastguard was on site but not engaging in a rescue operation. Around 13:30 we received GPS position from the travellers clearly showing that they were in Greek waters, however ten minutes later we received another one, this time in Turkish waters. At 13:40 we spoke to the Greek coastguard who told us that they could see the boat but that the boat was in a different position to what we had sent, it was now in Turkish waters. At 13:53 the travellers told us that they were being rescued by the Turkish coastguard.
Although the exact dynamics of the case remain unclear, this case probably also entailed a push-back. We are still investigating the detailed developments and will include potential updates into this report.