Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 30th June 2020
Case name: 2020_06_30-CM257
Situation: One boat carrying 47 travellers was rescued by Ocean Viking.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: In the early morning of Tuesday the 30th of June, the Alarm Phone was alerted by a relative of one of the travellers, to a boat in distress that had departed from Zuwara, Libya carrying 47 travellers. While the relative that contacted us gave us an old GPS position which he had received during the night, at 7:37h CEST we managed to speak to the travellers themselves and got an updated position. The travellers told us that they had been at sea for more than four days, their engine was no longer working and they had no food and no water left. At 08:15h we alerted the Italian and Maltese coastguards via email, and passed on all the information we had. Soon after we spoke again to the people on board who gave us verbally a new position which we passed on to authorities. At 08:38h we published the first of a series of tweets informing about the case. At 08:42h we called the Italian coastguard who told us that as the boat was in Maltese Search and Rescue (SAR) zone, we should call Malta. The Maltese coastguard however, did not answer our calls. At 09:08h we spoke again to the travellers who gave us update coordinates which we once again passed on to relevant authorities. At 09:22h the NGO rescue boat “Mare Jonio” copied the Alarm Phone in an email sent to authorities stating that they would be available for assistance in this case, but that a Maltese rescue vessel was closer to the position of the boat in distress. Our shift team tried to call the Maltese coastguards several times but no one picked up the phone. At 10:20h we spoke again to the travellers, they gave us an updated position which was significantly further south than the previous one, they told us that they were being moved by the strong winds. They also told us that they could see a big ship in the distance. Once again we passed on this information to both the Italian and Maltese coastguards. Approximately one hour later, when we called again the people on board, they told us that the situation was deteriorating, 7 people had collapsed and everybody was really exhausted. Further, their phone was running low on battery. Again, we forwarded this information together with updated coordinates to relevant authorities. At 11:48h we received an email, which was sent to us, to UNHCR as well as to Italian and Maltese authorities, from the NGO boat Ocean Viking which was informing that they were heading towards the distress case. As we were in constant contact with the travellers, in the late morning and early afternoon we received several updated GPS coordinates which we always forwarded to authorities. By 14:13h the situation on board had worsened due to the scorching heat and the absence of water, people were getting weaker and weaker and some were no longer able to speak. After this alarming phone call we lost contact to the travellers. Fortunately, at 18:54h we were informed by Ocean Viking that all the 47 travellers had been rescued.