Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 18th of October 2015

Case name: 2015_10_18-AEG103
Situation: 8 boats in distress near the Greek islands of Farmakonisi, Chios and Lesvos, 2 groups stranded on Agathonisi and Glaros
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Sunday the 18th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone dealt with a total of 10 emergency situations in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of Farmakonisi, Agathonisi, Glaros, Chios and Lesvos. The Greek coastguard rescued 4 boats in distress north of Lesvos and 3 east of Chios. In one case, close to Farmakonisi, rescue was confirmed to us, but it remained unclear by whom. Beyond that, two groups of travellers had stranded on the islands of Agathonisi and Glaros, but were saved afterwards.

At 4am a contact person forwarded the coordinates and phone number of a boat in distress in Greek territorial waters to the Alarm Phone (case 1). 40 to 50 travellers, among them many children, were on their way to the island of Farmakonisi when their engine had broken down. Although we were not able to reach the travellers on board, we informed the Greek coastguard in Piraeus at 4.20am. Twenty minutes later the contact person informed us that the situation on board had worsened and that water was entering. In a phone call with the port authorities on the neighbouring island of Leros we were told that the travellers have to call the international emergency number 112. Several further attempts to reach the travellers were not successful, but at 5am our contact person informed us that the travellers could see a large vessel approaching them. At 5.30am we learned that a vessel had started to rescue the travellers. It remained unclear, whether Greek or Turkish authorities conducted this rescue operation.

At 6am we were alerted to a group of 120 travellers who had stranded on the Greek island of Agathonisi (case 2). We learned that they were lost on the island and not able to move. In a direct phone call with the travellers they told us that their boat was destroyed at the rocky shore, that many children, elderly and sick persons are among them and that they have no food nor water anymore. We asked them to call the international emergency number 112 and promised to stay in touch. Later on we tried to contact them via WhatsApp but they did not reply. In the afternoon we talked again to them and learned that they were walking to the next police station and were not in need of further assistance.

In a similar case, we were alerted to a group of 145 travellers who had stranded at the deserted island of Glaros, with 35 children among them (case 3). They were not able to walk and had no food and water with them as well. We informed the Greek coastguard and the port authorities on Leros and asked them to take care of this group.

At 7.15 the activist collective Safe the Refugees forwarded a distress call of a sinking boat near Çeşme/Turkey to us (case 4). We talked to the Turkish coastguard, which confirmed to us that they had rescued a boat at this position. Nevertheless, as there were many boats in distress at that day, it remained unclear whether this one was rescued.

Several sources informed us about another boat in distress close to the Greek island of Chios and already in Greek waters, with 45 people on board (case 5). We talked to the Greek coastguard in Piraeus at 10.15am, but they refused to act, as one of their vessels apparently had already found the boat, but had determined that it was still in Turkish waters. We insisted that the boat was already in Greek territorial waters, according to our coordinates. At midday we talked to the Turkish coastguard and learned that a Greek rescue vessel was awaiting the boat at the border of the Greek search and rescue zone, but had not yet started a rescue operation. Afterwards, we learned from the port authorities on Chios that they had already rescued about 90 boats at this morning. Nevertheless they were not able to confirm the rescue of the boat in question. Only at 1pm the Greek coastguard in Piraeus confirmed to us that the boat in question had been rescued already. We informed all our informants accordingly.

At 10.30am the activist collective Safe the Refugees informed us about another boat in distress between Çeşme/Turkey and the island of Chios, with 20 children on board (case 6). The network had already alerted the Greek coastguard and we were able to confirm to them that the boat was already in Greek waters. At 4.05pm the network called us again and informed us that the boat in question had been rescued by the Greek coastguard as well.

In the early evening of that day a contact person form the same activist network forwarded the coordinates and phone number of a boat to us, which was in distress 4 kilometres north of the Greek island of Lesvos, with 60 people on board (case 7). The engine of the boat had broken down and the network had already asked the travellers to call the international emergency number 112, as they were already in Greek waters. We tried to call the travellers directly during the whole night, but without success. Only at the following day a member of the Safe the Refugees collective informed us that the travellers had been rescued.

Two different contact persons sent to us the coordinates and phone number of another boat in distress north of Lesvos at about 7.30pm (case 8). Some minutes later one contact person told us that she had already informed the Greek coastguard and that the people were fine for the moment. But at about 8pm we learned that the situation on board got worse. Thus, we decided to alert the Greek coastguard again. While the coordination centre in Piraeus was not reachable, the coastguard’s person on duty in Mytilini on Lesvos took our information. At about 9pm we learned from both our contact persons that the boat in question had been rescued.

In the evening, the Alarm Phone dealt with two further cases of distress close to the island of Lesvos. At 7.30pm we were alerted via WhatsApp to a boat in distress northeast of the island, directly at the border of the Greek and Turkish search and rescue zones (case 9). At 8pm we learned form the contact person that the boat had been rescued. At about the same time a contact person informed us about another boat in distress, 8 kilometres off the northern shore of Lesvos and still in Turkish waters (case 10). The contact told us that the travellers were on sea for 40 minutes, when water has started to enter their boat. The asked for immediate help, no matter whether by Turkish or Greek authorities. At 8.20pm we talked to the Turkish coastguard and forwarded all our information. Finally, at 9pm, our contact person confirmed to us that the group had been rescued by the Greek coastguard.