21/09: 1 boat pushed back and probably rescued by the Turkish Coastguard

22.09.2021 / 11:30 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 21th of September 2021

Case name: 20210921-AEG826

Situation: 1 boat pushed back and probably rescued by the Turkish Coastguard

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On 21st of September at 15:58 CEST we were alerted about a boat in distress with around 20 people on board. We couldn't establish contact to the people on the boat, and informed the Hellenic Coast Guard at 16:25 CEST. At 19:30 CEST we were informed by a relative that a pushback had happened and that people are left adrift in Turkish waters, he sends us a position. We lost contact to the people on the boat.

On the 22nd of September at 11:12 CEST the Turkish Coast Guard told us that they rescued a boat with 15 people on the 21st of September at 20:00 CEST. The Turkish Coastguard said that the people on the boat were pushed back close to Marmaris, their engine had been stolen and they had been left adrift.

Until now we are unsure weather the people on the boat were the same as those who were rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard.

twitter:

https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1440340780745310209

Last update: 11:21 Nov 13, 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