26/07: 27 people in a boat attacked and left adrift by Hellenic Coast Guard

27.07.2022 / 16:17 / Eastern Med

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations –26th of July 2022

Case name: 2022_07_26 - Eastern Med - 942

Situation: 27 people in a boat attacked and left adrift by Hellenic Coast Guard, later probably pushed back and left adrift by Hellenic Coast Guard

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case: On the 31st of July 2022, at, 06:41 CEST, our hotline was alerted to a group of 27 travellers close to the island of Rhodes. Alarm Phone were informed that the boat had been attacked by the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) and the engine had been removed and the boat left adrift. At 07:48 Alarm Phone alerted the Turkish Coast Guard (TCG) who at first reported that they would immediately send a boat there, but then later said the boat was in Greek waters and that it was the responsibility of the HCG. Alarm Phone then alerted the HCG at 08:43 CEST, who replied to say they were “investigating” the matter. No further clarification was received from the HCG. The TCG told Alarm Phone later that day that three boats had been found in the area that day, one of them carrying 27 people, however it was not confirmed if this was the same boat. Though it was not confirmed, it appears that the boat was attacked by the HCG when the engine was removed, and that they group of travellers arrived back to Turkey.

twitter.com
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1551824239132565504

https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1551952280123068416

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