Three vessels in distress in the Aegean Sea, all rescued

05.08.2015 / 20:23 / Aegean Sea, Turkey/Greece

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations - 4th of August 2015

Case name: 2015_08_04-AEG32
Situation: Three vessels in distress in Turkish waters, rescued by Turkey; one vessel safely arrived on Lesvos Island/Greece
Status of WTM Investigations: Concluded
Place of Incidents: Aegean Sea, Greece/Turkey

Summary of the Cases: On Tuesday the 4th of August, at around 3.30am, Nawal Soufi’s activist collective alerted us to a case of distress and passed on a phone number as well as GPS coordinates. The travellers could, at first, not be contacted. We reached out to the Hellenic coastguard/Greece which stated that the travellers were in Turkish waters. We then turned to the Turkish coastguard and informed them about the situation. After a while, the travellers could be reached. Communications were difficult and people were shouting in the background. It became clear that they were in acute distress and that there were many children on board. Shortly afterwards, we were informed that they had been rescued by the Turkish coastguard.

At approximately 4.50am, we received a second emergency case through the activist collective. We received both the GPS coordinates and a phone number but were unable to reach the travellers directly. We informed both Greek and Turkish coastguards as well as the UNHCR. About 4 hours later we learned through the Turkish coastguards that they had been rescued.

In the afternoon, we were alerted to a third distress situation by the activist collective. They passed on GPS coordinates and a phone number of the group of travellers which, at first, could not be reached. The vessel was north of the Greek island of Lesvos. When contacting the Greek coastguards they merely told us that the people on the vessel should call 112. A few minutes later we received an update from the activist collective which had been informed about the rescue of the travellers. We were then able to reach them directly via WhatsApp and they confirmed that they had arrived and were safe.
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