Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 24th of February 2024
Case name: 2024_02_24-Eastern Med - 098
Situation: 110 people adrift in boat that departed from Libya towards Crete, Greece
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:
In the night of February 24, 2024, a relative informed us about a boat in distress between Libya and the Greek island of Crete. Upon establishing direct contact to the people on the boat, they told us there were approx. 110 passengers on board, the engine was broken and that they were sinking. Their location showed them at the border of the SAR zones of Greece, Libya and Egypt.
At 01:31 CET on February 25, we informed authorities in Malta, Italy, Greece and Libya. At 01:55 we spoke to JRCC Piraeus on the phone. They refused to take action, as they claimed the people to be in Libyan SRR. However, they promised to contact Libyan authorities on the matter. We also informed them about a merchant vessel in the area and urged the officer on the phone to reach out to them, too. Shortly after, we had the people on the phone again and they told us that the merchant vessel PING AN had stopped near them, and that they thought they would be rescued by its crew.
At 03:24 CET, the people were still not rescued and were desperately calling Alarm Phone for help. JRCC Piraeus still refused to intervene and order the merchant vessel to conduct a rescue operation. The Greek officer confirmed to have informed Libyan authorities on the matter. When calling the officer on duty of the so called Libyan Coast Guard, they confirmed the receipt of the information and informed us that they have ordered the merchant vessel PING AN to conduct the rescue.
However, when calling the captain of the PING AN, he informed us that they left the people behind and continued their way without conducting a rescue, as this would have been too dangerous for their boat and crew. Following-up on that, we called the so-called Libyan coast guard again and the officer on duty told us he could not call the captain of the PING AN because they are not able to make international phone calls.
At 04:15 CET, we updated all authorities by email with all the information we were able to collect. Half an hour later, at 04:43 CET, the captain of the PING AN informed us that they are on their way back, looking again for the boat. We also called MRCC Rome explaining that we are really worried of who is in charge of the coordination, but they didn’t have any further information.
At 05:34, a new boat, the MSC ANNA, was observed on scene. The people on the boat confirmed the presence of MSC ANNA. The captain of the PING AN told us that they left the area again and continued their journey. We also observe on Vesselfinder, that other merchant vessels appeared in the vicinity: the ZHENG HE 3 and CLESIUS LONDON.
After several hours and several phone calls to different RCC’s, we found out through a report on Greek media that the merchant vessel CELSIUS LONDON rescued the people under instruction of the Hellenic Coast Guard, and brought them to Crete. At 17:50 CET on February 25, RSC Chania finally confirmed the rescue of the people and informed us they were brought to Agia Galini on Crete.

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1761671843151249858

Media:
https://www.kathimerini.gr/society/562902229/skafos-me-pano-apo-100-metanastes-entopistike-notia-tis-kritis/
https://flashnews.gr/post/758819/olonychtio-thriler-me-metanastes-se-akyvernito-skafos-notia-tis-kritis-i-ekklisi-sos-sto-flashnews-gr/