Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 20th of August 2020

Case name: 2020-08-20-CM286
Situation: 70 travelers, started from unknown location in Libya, probably rescued to Lampedusa (according to media reports)
Status of WTM Investigation: Unconfirmed
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:
On 20th of August 2020 at 21:58h CEST, the Alarm Phone was called by a group of 70 travelers in distress. They had started from Libya the evening before in a blue wooden boat and their GPS location was in the Maltese Search and Rescue (SAR) zone. At 22:20h, we informed the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) about it via phone call and e-mail. At 22:40h, we also informed the Italian coastguard. At 23:02h, we received an updated GPS location and passed it to the authorities via e-mail. At 00:36h, we called the AFM, but did not get through. At 00:40h, the travelers sent us their GPS data which we passed to the authorities via e-mail. At 01:12h, the travelers called us and reported about problems with the engine. At 01:25h, we talked to the Italian coastguard on the phone. They confirmed to have received our e-mails and we stressed the need that they referred the rescue operation to their Maltese colleagues, as the people were in the Maltese SAR zone and the AFM did not react to our calls or e-mails. The Italian coastguard refused to share any info with us. At 01:40h, the travelers called and told us there was a hole in the boat and water entered. One hour later, we talked to them again and they were very desperate and scared. They passed their GPS location, which was around 15km south of the Italian SAR zone. The AFM was still not available. At 03:05h, we sent the updated info to the Italian and Maltese authorities. At 04:08h, we talked to the travelers again and received their GPS data. They were afraid they would die. We passed the info to the authorities. At 05:24h, they had managed to restart the engine and were moving. This was our last contact to them. Afterwards, we could not reach them anymore and did not get any information from Italian or Maltese authorities. According to different media sources, a group of around 70 people had been rescued to Lampedusa, and we assumed this were the people who had contacted us. We did not receive a confirmation of this from the travelers themselves.