Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 28th of November 2015

Case name: 2015_11_29-AEG142
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 8 distress cases near Lesvos and 1 near Chios‬
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Sunday the 29th of November 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 9 distress cases in the Aegean Sea: 8 distress cases near Lesvos and 1 distress case near Chios. In all cases, but one the rescue of the travellers could be confirmed. In six cases the travellers were rescued by the Turkish coastguard and in two cases by the Greek coastguard, thus most travellers were brought back to Turkey.
At 4:40am a contact person alerted us to a boat in distress on the way to Lesvos, but still in Turkish waters. There were about 50 persons on board and they were facing high waves (Case 1). We did not manage to reach the travellers directly, but the contact person was in contact with them. At 6am we called the Turkish coastguard, who were irritated, because they had already received several calls concerning the same case. Despite several attempts to get in touch with the boat throughout the day, we did not receive a final confirmation of their rescue.
Later on Sunday, we were alerted to 7 other distress situations close to Lesvos. In one case the group of about 40 travellers was in distress, because of a broken engine (Case 2). We called the Greek coastguard, but they told us to call the Turkish Coastguard, as the boat was still in Turkish waters. As the travellers urged us to seek help, we called the Turkish Coastguard at quarter to ten, who then rescued the boat.
In the other case, we called the Turkish coastguard directly, as the boat was clearly in Turkish waters and about to capsize (Case 3). The final rescue of the travellers was confirmed to us by both the coastguard and a contact person.
In the third case, the boat in distress was in between the Turkish and the Greek search and rescue zone (Case 4). We informed both coastguards, the boat was rescued by the Greek coastguard and brought to Greece.
At 11.30am we received a call from a contact person from Germany about yet another distress case close to Lesvos (Case 5). We did not manage to establish direct contact with the boat, but informed the Turkish coastguard, who rescued the travellers before 1pm, as both the coastguard and the contact person confirmed.
At 2.25pm we received another alert via Whatsapp about 40 travellers in distress north of Lesvos, with one person overboard (Case 6). The Turkish coastguard reacted immediately and rescued the travellers. Shortly after the 6th alert, we were informed about another boat via Facebook (Case 7). We reached out to the travellers, and understood that they were in urgent need of assistance. Again the Turkish coastguard carried out the rescue operation.
At 4.40pm a contact person called us about a boat off the Turkish coast, also headed towards Lesvos (Case 8). At first we did not reach the Turkish Coastguard, so we informed Seawatch, Pro-Activa and the UNHCR, all of whom could not assist. At 7pm we finally reached the Turkish coastguard, who confirmed to us the rescue of the boat.

At 5.09pm a contact person informed us about a boat in distress near Chios carrying 54 persons (Case 9). The engine of the boat had stopped working and water was entering the boat. We informed the Greek coastguard, who rescued the travellers and brought them to Greece.