Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 01 October 2022

Case name: 2022_01_10_Eastern Med_1024

Situation: 45 people rescued by merchant vessel to Igoumenitsa, Greece

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Eastern Med, Ionian Sea

Summary of the Case: On the 1st of October 2022, we received an alert about a sailing boat carrying 45 people, including women and children who have been at sea for over three days. We couldn't establish contact with people on the boat, but a relative of someone on board told us the travellers had called him a few hours earlier to ask for urgent assistance as the weather was bad and the waves were very high. He told us that the people on board had been afraid and asking for help. We alerted the Greek and Italian authorities by email at 18:45 CEST, and shortly after called JRCC Pireaus, who informed us that they are aware of the boat, that a rescue operation is underway and that three merchant vessels are in the area and will go to rescue them. We shared a tweet and called the press office of JRCC Pireaus a couple of hours later to get an update, but they told us they are not aware of any rescue in the Ionian Sea. An hour later we called JRCC Pireaus again who told us very shortly that the rescue is ongoing. Finally, at 23:37 CEST, JRCC Pireaus confirmed that all the people were rescued and have been taken to Igoumenitsa and they will arrive there in the morning hours.

Twitter Links

1/10 @ 20.25 CEST
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1576277237548331008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

02/10 @ 00.12 CEST
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1576334639119372288