Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of May 2024
Case name: 2024_05_22-Eastern Med - 217
Situation: 22/05/2024: Boat from Tobruk, Libya, in distress near Crete, Greece Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:
During the evening of the 22nd of May, we received information about a boat which had left Tobruk in Libya three days prior. We were contacted by worried relatives who were asking us to help urgently. We tried to reach the people on the boat directly by phone, but could not establish a connection with them. At 21:21 CEST we informed different authorities in Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Turkey, Italy and Malta about the missing boat, even though we could not provide the current position of the people.

In the following hours, we called the phone number of the people on the boat which had been given to us repeatedly by relatives, but still could not reach them. At 04:45 CEST the next day, the Egyptian Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) Cairo called Alarm Phone and informed us that they knew the position of the group. They later informed us that they had ordered the merchant vessel JULIET to the last known position of the boat. It turned out that the people on the boat could only be reached on a different number than then one provided to us. The last known position that JRCC Cairo had shared showed the group to be in international waters, south of the Greek island of Crete, in the Egyptian Search and Rescue zone. Despite this, Crete was the closest port, 74 nautical miles away. The Egyptian harbour of Port Said was far, around 350 nautical miles. The people reported that their battery was very low. Their boat was drifting and they had already been at sea for three days.

At 11:16 CEST on May 24th, the JRCC Cairo informed us via mail that the people had been found and rescued by the merchant vessel JULIET. Tragically, one person had died in the water and the body had vanished in the waves during the attempt to recover it. JRCC Cairo announced that the merchant vessel was heading towards Crete to disembark the people in Greece and would continue its course afterwards toward Turkey, its destination port. However, it then turned out that it had not yet been agreed by Greek authorities that the people could disembark on Crete. Despite this, the merchant vessel continued in this direction. This was according to its legal obligations, which state that any survivors of such an incident must be taken to the closest port of safety, which clearly was the port of Crete. On the phone, Greek authorities said there was still no final decision about whether or not the people would be allowed to disembark in Crete, as the boat had not been rescued in the Greek Search and Rescue zone. We underlined again to Greek authorities that it is the obligation of all involved parties to coordinate rescue to the closest port and reiterated the fact that Egypt is no safe place for people on the move, especially as Egyptian nationals on board who had fled the country. Meanwhile, the captain of the JULIET was worried and nervous as it seemed to him that nobody wanted to let the survivors disembark. In the following hours, it seemed that an agreement was found between the involved parties, and the JULIET continued towards Crete. The boat, with the people on board, had to spend the night south of the island, near the port of Kaloi Limenes. The next morning, on May 24th, at 07:57 CEST the captain of the JULIET confirmed that the Hellenic Coast Guard had transhipped the people and taken them to Crete.

Afterwards, we were contacted by the relatives of the person who vanished in the waves. We tried to help them in their search for the body, so far without success. We mourn their loss and stand in solidarity with them. We'll continue to do our best to support them in their search for clarity and justice.

Twitter: https://x.com/alarm_phone/status/1793600209404256416