21/04: 120 travellers intercepted by the so-called Libyan coastguard
Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 21st April 2021
Case name: 2021_04_21-CM407
Situation: Boat with 120 travellers intercepted and brought back to Libya
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the case: On Wednesday the 21st of April in the morning, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to a rubber boat in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea carrying around 120 travellers, including 30 women and 15 children. They had left from Al Khoms at around 22.00 the previous evening in convoy with another boat. We managed to reach the travellers, but in the first calls the connection was too bad to understand anything. After a few calls we understood that they were no longer together with the other boat they had left with, and also that not all travellers on the boat had life vests. At 09.00 CEST we managed to get their GPS position which we forwarded via email to all relevant authorities. In addition, we provided the travellers the phone numbers of the Italian and so called Libyan coastguard so that they were able to call for help directly with their satellite phone.
At 11.35 CEST we published a tweet alerting the public to the distress of the travellers:
SOS! 2 boats with 200 people in distress!
We were alerted to two other boats in distress off #Libya. According to the people, they carry at least 100 people each. In total, we now know of 3 boats currently at risk of capsizing. Authorities are informed: Do not let them drown!

5 minutes later, we received a new position which we immediately forwarded to the authorities. We tried to alert the so-called Libyan coastguard via phone as well, but were not able to reach an officer we could talk to. At 14.17 CEST we spoke to the travellers again, who stressed that they needed immediate assistance. After this, we were never able to establish contact to the travellers again, and their Thuraya credit remained the same, indicating that they were not communicating with anyone else either. An hour later, we managed to reach the company of a merchant vessel nearby. They informed us that they would order their vessel to turn around to shelter the boat in distress, but that they preferred not to carry out a rescue operation. In addition, they agreed to alert other nearby vessels over the radio. At 21.05 CEST the relative informed us that the boat had been intercepted by the so-called Libyan coastguard. This was confirmed to us later in the evening by the so-called Libyan coastguard.