Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 1st of July 2015

Case name: 2015_07_01-CM29
Situation: Two vessels in distress in the Central Med, rescued
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea, Libya

Summary of the Case: On Wednesday the 1st of July 2015, at 11:20am, the Alarm Phone received a message from Father Mussie Zerai. He informed us about a vessel in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea, near Libya and passed on a satellite phone number which, at first, could not be reached. We notified the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome about the emergency situation. While a first successful contact to the passengers broke off after a few minutes, it could be re-established and in several phone calls we were able to receive more information about their situation. We were informed that there were approximately 130 people on a rubber vessel, including pregnant women and children. They were able to pass on their GPS position and told us that water was entering their vessel. In turn, we passed on the newly obtained details to MRCC Rome. In a phone conversation with the passengers at 1.30pm, it became clear that they were getting increasingly anxious and were pleading for rescue. They stated that the battery of their satellite phone had run low and we agreed to use it as little as possible.

At about 3pm, Father Zerai informed us about a second vessel in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea. While we received their satellite phone number, they could not be reached at all and we informed MRCC Rome about this second emergency situation.

In the following hours, the shift team was not able to connect to the two vessels and, on the day, no confirmation of their rescue could be obtained. Fortunately, a day later, MRCC Rome confirmed the rescue of both vessels.