Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 2nd October September 2021

Case name: 2021_10_02-CM583

Situation: 56 travellers in distress in the Central Med, finally arrived to Lampedusa.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the case: On Saturday the 2nd of October 2021, the Alarm Phone shift team was called directly by a group of 56 travellers, including 21 children, in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea. The travellers told us that they were travelling on a grey wooden boat and having problems with their engines. Only a few of the travellers were wearing life jackets. The weather conditions were very rough and the connection bad. The travellers had left from around Zuwara. From the position provided by the travellers, we could see that they were close to the oil platform El Bouri. We could hear that the travellers were panicking, asking for immediate rescue as waves were high and water was entering the boat. We informed all rescue authorities about the ongoing distress of the travellers. We stayed in contact with the travellers and updated the authorities about their GPS position and the situation onboard. We also kept the credit balance of the satellite phone sufficient to allow the travellers to communicate whilst being at sea. At 19.00 CEST we sent the authorities a position showing that the travellers had now reached the Maltese search and rescue zone. At 03.50 CEST the travellers told us that their engine had stopped working, they were adrift and needed urgent assistance. At 04.55 CEST the travellers told us that a big boat had arrived and would stand by them until the coastguard arrived. They were provided with food and water. However, in the morning the travellers managed to fix their engine and decided to proceed towards Lampedusa on their own. At 09.51 CEST the travellers told us that they had run out of fuel and were drifting again and that the waves were high. We again relayed this information to the relevant rescue authorities, but the Italian coastguard continued to refuse to give us any information. Half an hour later, the travellers told us that they could see Lampedusa. After this, we could no longer reach the travellers. In the early afternoon we learned that a boat corresponding to the information we had, had arrived to Lampedusa. Through a picture we were able to identify it as the boat we had been in contact with.