04/07: One boat picked up by Turkish coastguard and one boat pushed back by Greek coastguard

05.07.2020 / 12:56 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 4th of July 2020
Case name: 2020_07_04-AEG686
Situation: 29 travellers had their engine stolen and were then rescued by the Turkish coastguard. Some other 30 travellers were pushed back to Turkey by the Greek coastguard.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Saturday the 4th of July the Alarm Phone was alerted to two distress cases in the Aegean Sea. One boat had its engine stolen at sea and was later rescued by the Turkish coastguard. Another boat was intercepted by the Greek coastguard and pushed back into Turkish waters.

In the early morning of Saturday the 4th of July, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boat in distress carrying around 29 travelers. The engine of the boat had been stolen at sea. Due to language barriers, communication was initially difficult. After failing to re-establish contact with the travellers our shift team called the Turkish coastguard at 08:24h CEST. On the phone they told us that they had just rescued a boat with 29 people South-East of Lesvos. In addition, they had also been alerted to two other boats that had been pushed back by the Greek coastguard earlier in the morning in the same area. At the time, the Turkish coastguard was currently searching for these boats. Half an hour later we sent an email to both Turkish and Greek coastguards with all the details on the case. Around 10:45h we sent further emails to both coastguards asking whether they had information on the case. At 11:07h the Turkish coastguard confirmed the rescue, stating that the boat had been found at 06:30h earlier that morning.

At 13:26h of the same day, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boat in distress with 30 travellers on board, including 3 children and 11 women. The boat was in Greek waters and the travellers had no more food or water. They also reported that the Greek coastguard had broken their engine and tried to attack people, before telling them to paddle back to Turkey with their hands. At 13:49h our shift team sent an email to the Greek coastguard informing them about the boat in distress and asking for a rescue operation. At 14:13h we spoke again to the travellers, it was very hot and children were crying. at 14:35h we called the Greek coastguard who told us everything was under control, without further information. We were then told that the coordinates we gave them earlier were incorrect, we thus gave them again in another format. At 15:03h we confirmed the GPS position via email. At 15:12h we called the travellers again, they told us that they had been pushed back to Turkey by the Greek coastguard who gave them life-vests and sent them back towards the Turkish coast. As we were speaking, they were on a Turkish coastguard vessel in Turkish territorial waters. While everyone survived, the travellers reported that some people had been hurt by the Greek coastguard and phones had been thrown in the water.

Twitter Chronology:

2020-07-04
14:06 https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1279385988314390539
15:17 https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1279403904497836032
16:23 https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1279420525736071168
Last update: 18:32 Oct 28, 2020
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • Border police patrols
     
    While the exact location of patrols is of course constantly changing, this line indicates the approximate boundary routinely patrolled by border guards’ naval assets. In the open sea, it usually correspond to the outer extent of the contiguous zone, the area in which “State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws” (UNCLOS, art. 33). Data source: interviews with border police officials.
  • Coastal radars
     
    Approximate radar beam range covered by coastal radars operating in the frame of national marine traffic monitoring systems. The actual beam depends from several different parameters (including the type of object to be detected). Data source: Finmeccanica.
  • Exclusive Economic Zone
     
    Maritime area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which the coastal state exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters. Its breadth is 200 nautical miles from the straight baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (UNCLOS, Arts. 55, 56 and 57). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans
  • Frontex operations
     
    Frontex has, in the past few years, carried out several sea operations at the maritime borders of the EU. The blue shapes indicate the approximate extend of these operations. Data source: Migreurop Altas.
  • Mobile phone coverage
     
    Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network coverage. Data source: Collins Mobile Coverage.
  • Oil and gas platforms
     
    Oil and gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Data source:
  • Search and Rescue Zone
     
    An area of defined dimensions within which a given state is has the responsibility to co-ordinate Search and Rescue operations, i.e. the search for, and provision of aid to, persons, ships or other craft which are, or are feared to be, in distress or imminent danger. Data source: IMO availability of search and rescue (SAR) services - SAR.8/Circ.3, 17 June 2011.
  • Territorial Waters
     
    A belt of sea (usually extending up to 12 nautical miles) upon which the sovereignty of a coastal State extends (UNCLOS, Art. 2). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans

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