21/05: 10 people in distress pushed back from near Rhodes to near Simi Island

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  In Distress   Push-Back

22.05.2021 / 17:38 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 21st of May 2021

Case name:2021_05_21_AEG786

Situation: 10 people in distress pushed back from near Rhodes to near Simi Island and rescued by the Turkish Coastguard

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On 21st of May at 03:10 pm CEST we informed the Greek an Turkish Coastguard about 10 people, 7 men and three women, in Greek waters near Rhodes. Their boat was damaged and water was coming in.

At 03:34 pm CEST the people on the boat told us they didn’t have any more fuel and one pregnant person on the boat was feeling sick.

At 04:07 pm CEST the people on the boat told us one person was unconscious and cold, others were vomiting. Petrol has been leaking into the boat, so they were sitting in a mixture of salt water and petrol which can cause severe burns. They said they threw everything over board to make it lighter.

At 04:18 pm CEST we called the Hellenic Coast Guards again, but they didn’t believe us that there was a boat in danger. We gave them the phone numbers of the people on the boat anyways.

At 04:40 we were informed by a relative that the people on the boat were being rescued by the Hellenic Coast Guard but it was unclear where they are brought to.

We called several offices of the Hellenic Coast guard, but they all deny the rescue. "I am not really sure about that [the rescue]. We were looking for the people, maybe somewhere they sunk."

At 08:04 am CEST the people on the boat called and told us they are now in Turkish waters, the Hellenic Coast Guard had pushed them back and left them there without their motor in the middle of the sea.

08:12 am CEST we informed the Turkish Coast Guard.

08:51 am CEST the people called us to tell us they are now safe with the Turkish Coast Guards.
Last update: 00:20 Aug 25, 2021
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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