Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 17th of October 2015

Case name: 2015_10_17-AEG102
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 7 boats in distress near the Greek islands of Lesvos, Chios and Kastellerizon, one group stranded on Farmakonisi
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Saturday the 17th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 7 cases of boats in distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek island of Lesvos, Chios and Kastellerizo. Beyond that, one group had stranded on the Greek island of Farmakonisi and was evacuated by Greek authorities. Two boats were able to re-start their engine and to move on independently, while two boats were rescued by the Greek coastguard. In three cases the Turkish coastguard conducted rescue operations and returned the travellers to Turkey.

In the early morning of Saturday the 17th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to three boats in distress in the Aegean Sea. In two cases, close to Lesvos and Kastellerizo, we were not able to establish contact to the boats but learned afterwards, that one were rescued by the Turkish coastguard and one had arrived on Lesvos independently (cases 1 + 2). In the third case the travellers, a group of 40 persons including 15 children, had already arrived on the Greek island of Farmakonisi when we talked to them at 2.30am (case 3). We learned that two of them were injured and immediately informed the Greek coastguard in Piraeus, who was already aware of the group. At 7am we received a voice message from the travellers, stating that they were still waiting to be picked up from the island. Afterwards we informed the authorities on the island of Leros and they promised to send a boat to Farmakonisi. Only at 3pm we learned that the group of travellers had been picked up from the island.

At 7.30am a contact person informed us about a boat in distress between Çeşme/Turkey and the Greek island of Chios, with mostly women and children on board, among them one pregnant woman (case 4). The boat’s engine had broken down and water was entering. We called the Greek coastguard in Piraeus at 7.40am and half an hour later we learned from our contact person that the travellers had told him that a rescue vessel was close to them but had departed again. At 9am we talked directly to one of the travellers. She confirmed to us with tired voice that the Turkish coastguard had rescued them.

A call of a traveller’s brother reached us at 8.20am and informed us about another boat close to Chios, with 43 persons on board (case 5). After several unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with the boat we called the Greek coastguard in Piraeus at 8.40am. They took our information but also stated that they were dealing with 30 incidents at the same time. One hour later we received updated coordinates form one of the traveller’s brother by phone and forwarded them to the Greek coastguard. As the boat seemed to have drifted into Turkish waters again, we also informed the Turkish coastguard. At 11.30am the Turkish authorities informed us that they were not able to find the boat so far. But at 11.45am we received confirmation that they had rescued and returned the travellers to Turkey.

In the afternoon at 3.10pm we were alerted to a boat in distress north of Lesvos via a contact person (case 6). We phoned the travellers, a group of 35, and affirmed to them that we will alert the Greek coastguard. Because the coastguard in Molyvos on Lesvos was not reachable, we alerted the joint coordination centre in Piraeus at 3.20am. They promised to check the position of the boat and to send a rescue vessel if the boat is in Greek territorial waters. Ten minutes later our contact persons forwarded further details to us. In a voice message we could hear the travellers screaming and desperately asking for help. At 4pm we reached the coastguard in Molyvos on Lesvos and explained to her that we alerted the coastguard in Piraeus one hour earlier but that the travellers are still in distress. She said that a rescue vessel was sent to the northern shore of Lesvos 20 minutes earlier but also took the coordinates we obtained from our contact person. Only at 6pm our contact person confirmed to us that the Greek coastguard had rescued the travellers in the end.

In the early evening we received a WhatsApp message from a contact person providing us with a phone number and coordinates of another boat in distress north of Lesvos (case 7). We were not able to reach the travellers on board, but with the help on an Arabic translator we learned from the contact person that their engine had broken down. We talked to the Greek coastguard in Piraeus and the person on duty promised to us to take care of the boat. One hour after the initial alert we were able to contact the group via Viber. Although communication was difficult, we heard that the group was not on a boat anymore. Again 20 minutes later, the contact person confirmed to us that the group safely arrived on land, most probably rescued by the Greek coastguard.

At 10.45pm a contact person alerted us to another boat in distress north of Lesvos and provided us with its coordinates and phone number (case 8). We determined that the boat is still in Turkish waters and the contact asked us to wait with an alert, as the travellers would first try to restart their engine. After some hours in which we unsuccessfully tried to contact the travellers from time to time, we learned from our contact person that the travellers were able to start the engine again and had safely arrived on Lesvos.