Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 21st April 2021
Case name: 2021_04_21-CM406
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted Italian, Maltese and Libyan authorities to boat in distress for many hours. The boat shipwrecked as a result of the lack of assistance.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the case: On the morning of 21 April 2021, Alarm Phone was alerted by a local fisherman to a boat in distress off the coast of Libya. We received a satellite phone number and the information that there were approximately 120 people on board the boat which had left from Al-Khoms/Libya at approximately 22:00 on 20 April 2021. They had left together with a second boat – which would later be intercepted by the Libyan authorities.
We tried to reach the people on board but were not able to get through. Given the bad weather conditions in the area, we alerted relevant authorities by email at 09:51h CEST despite not having reached the people in distress directly. This means that from that time on, the following actors were aware of this boat in distress: MRCC Italy, RCC Malta, the so-called Libyan Coastguard, UNHCR, as well as NGO rescuers.
Shortly after, at 10:03h, we reached the boat in distress for the first time but due to a bad connection it was not possible to exchange information. At 10:22h, we re-established contact but could merely hear “call the rescue”. At 11:00h, we were able to reconnect. They forwarded us their GPS position and stated that there were about 130 people on board, including 7 women, one of whom was pregnant. They were on a rubber boat and said that the sea was rough. We immediately informed the relevant authorities and made the case public.
Over the following hours, we repeatedly reached the people in distress and relayed their GPS positions and their testimonies about the situation on board to the authorities. The situation on board deteriorated drastically, and the people in distress were in great panic, telling us that the waves were high and that water was entering the boat. We passed on all relevant information to the authorities by email, and also contacted them via phone. At around noon, we informed MRCC Italy about the merchant vessel BRUNA which was close to the case of distress and could have intervened. However, BRUNA proceeded its course.
At 14:11h, MRCC Italy told us in one phone conversations that we should inform the “competent authorities” about the distress case. These supposedly ‘competent’ authorities, the Libyan authorities, had not been reachable for several hours. Only at 14:44h could we get through to a Libyan officer who stated that they were aware of three boats and searching for them with their UBARI patrol vessel.
Over the next hours, we remained in close contact with the people in distress and relayed their updated GPS positions to the authorities at 16:15h, 17:16h and 19:15h. We also informed the authorities about the panic on board and the fact that merchant vessels were in the area of distress. At 17:53h, we received an email from MV OCEAN VIKING, directed to the authorities and us, stating that they would change course in search of the boat in distress.
At 19:15h, we informed the authorities that the people in distress could see a plane – which we believe was the Frontex aircraft OSPREY conducting an aerial operation in the area of distress.
At 20:15h, we reached the people in distress for the last time but the call cut before we could exchange information. They had repeatedly said in earlier conversations that their satellite phone was running out of battery.
At 20:52h, we spoke again with MRCC Italy and explained that we were hardly ever able to reach the Libyan authorities. The Italian officer told us: “We are doing our job, call if you have new information”.
At 22:22h, we finally reached the Libyan authorities again. The Libyan officer told us that they would not search for the boat in distress as the weather conditions were too bad. We found out that the so-called Libyan Coastguard had intercepted another boat, which had also alerted Alarm Phone, carrying about 100 people – in this case, a woman and her baby died. At 22:55h we informed MRCC Italy that the so-called Libyan Coastguard would not conduct a search operation.
The next day, 22 April 2021, at 7:30h, we spoke with MRCC Rome again, requesting immediate action. The Italian officer said: “Call us if you have new information, we know about the boat.” At 7:53h, we informed all authorities once more via email, including Frontex, requesting an aerial operation and guidance for the vessels in the vicinity of the boat in distress: the merchant vessels VS LISBETH, ALK, and MY ROSE, as well as the NGO vessel OCEAN VIKING.
At 8.30h, we also wrote an email to Frontex directly, asking for information about their aerial operation the day prior in the area of distress. At 8.49h, we received the following answer from Frontex:
“Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for your email. Please be informed that Frontex has immediately relayed the message to the Italian and Maltese authorities.”
At 10:42h, we received the Libyan authorities again who denied having any knowledge on the boat in distress. At 11:31h, the Libyan authorities repeated that they had no information on the boat to which Alarm Phone had alerted them several times by email and phone. They also stated that Italy had requested them to give permission for merchant vessels to conduct a rescue operation, which they had given to them. They repeated that they had not gone out, and would not go out, due to the bad weather conditions.
At 17:08h, Alarm Phone received an email from OCEAN VIKING, directed to the authorities and us, stating that they had searched for the boat in distress together with MY ROSE, ALK and VS LISBETH and that they had found the remains of a shipwreck and several bodies, with no sign of survivors. Frontex’ Osprey was at the scene. VS LISBETH left the scene, stating that the Libyan patrol vessel UBARI would function as coordinator. However, UBARI was not on scene, and the merchant vessel and OCEAN VIKING were standing by. In the evening, SOS Méditerranée provided a statement: https://sosmediterranee.com/statement-ocean-viking-witnesses-aftermath-of-deadly-shipwreck-off-libya/