16/08: 14 people in distress rescued by Turkish Coastguard

17.08.2021 / 20:27 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 16th of August 2021

Case name: 20210816-AEG807

Situation: 14 travellers in a sinking boat rescued by the Turkish Coastguard

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On the 16th of August at 04:16 CEST we were contacted by a relative about a group of 14 people on a boat which was about to sink. We immediately called the Turkish Coastguard and informed them about the emergency. Meanwhile we constantly tried to reach the people on the boat, but without success. At 05:30 CEST we found out that the Turkish vessel "Sani Kaptan 2" was near the last position of the people in distress. We reached one person from “Sani Kaptan 2”, they told us, that they forwarded the information about the distress to the Turkish Coastguards. At 07:33 CEST the Turkish Coastguard confirmed that they rescued a boat with 18 people next to the position we got from the relative. We assumed the rescued boat to be the same as the one we were alerted about.

On the 3rd of September we were in contact with the people again they told us they were back in Turkey by then. They have spend some days in a "jail outside in sun", which was exhausting.

Last update: 20:31 Oct 11, 2021

Credibility:

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