02/08: Two swimmers on their way to Kos, one arrived on Kos, one back to Turkey

03.08.2022 / 17:07 / Eastern Med

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 2nd of August 2022
Case name: 2022_08_02_EasternMed954
Situation: Two swimmers on their way to Kos, one arrived on Kos, one went missing
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:

In the very early hours of the 2nd of August 2022, the Alarm Phone received a call from a relative about 2 people in distress near the island of Kos in the Aegean Sea. It was clear that they had tried to reach Kos by swimming and were lacking the energy to go on.

At 03:01 CEST we alerted the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) to the distress situation by email, and called them by phone shortly afterwards. At 05:53 CEST we once again called RCC Piraeus, who stated that they were still searching for the travellers, but had not found them yet.

At 15:32 CEST the Turkish coastguard confirmed that they had rescued a swimming person at 02:00am, and that he was stable and back in Turkey now.

Relatives later that day confirmed to us that one of the two people had been returned to Turkey, whilst the other one had reached Kos and was now in a camp.

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