27/12 Alarm Phone alerted to 6 emergency situations in the Aegean Sea, near Lesvos, Samos, Ro, Pasas and Chios

28.12.2015 / 16:01 / Aegean Sea, Lesvos, Samos, Ro, Pasas and Chios

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 27th of December 2015

Case name: 2015_12_27-AEG169
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 6 distress cases in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Sunday the 27th of December 2015, our Alarm Phone shift team was alerted to 6 emergency situations in the Aegean region. Two groups made it independently to Lesvos Island while another group was rescued by Greek coastguards near Samos Island. Two groups had stranded on different Greek islands (Ro and Pasas) and were later found and rescued by Greek coastguards. One group was in distress in Turkish waters and was rescued by Turkish authorities.

At 2.57am our shift team received a Facebook message, alerting us to a vessel near Lesvos in distress, carrying 35 people (case 1). Two informants notified us about the same case. When we reached the travellers at 3.03am they were calling out for help. At 3.06am we informed the Greek coastguards who took on the case. However, shortly afterwards our contact persons asked us to tell the coastguards to cancel their rescue operation as the engine had been re-ignited and the group was on its way to Lesvos. The Greek coastguards said that they were already nearby and would approach and monitor the vessel. At 3.42am one of the contact persons confirmed that they had safely arrived.

At 3.54am we received another distress message via Facebook, this time telling us about 60 people on a vessel moving toward Samos (case 2). We spoke to the travellers at 3.58am and they said that their engine had stopped working and they needed help. We informed the Greek coastguards and they took on the case. At 4.44am our initial contact person confirmed that the group had been rescued.

At 4.33am we were asked by a contact person to monitor a vessel with a group of Syrians on board that would shortly leave Turkey in order to reach Lesvos (case 3). We had been in contact with this group before in a previous border-crossing attempt that had failed. At 5.25am we were informed that the vessel carrying about 70 people, including many (pregnant) women and children, had left. At 7.22am our contact person confirmed that they had independently and safely arrived on Lesvos!

At 4.52am we received a WhatsApp message by a contact person who told us that 22 people, including children, had stranded on the small island of Ro and they were freezing and out of food (case 4). We informed the Port Authority of Kastellorizo and they said that they would send out a rescue vessel, presumably however only a few hours later. While one contact person confirmed the rescue of the group at 6.59am, we received another message at 9.19am from another person saying that the group was still on Ro. At 10.07am the Port Authority of Kastellorizo confirmed that they would arrive shortly. In the early evening we received a final confirmation that the group had been found and rescued.

At 6.35am we received another case via WhatsApp, this time concerning a group of 60 people on a vessel close to Palios/Lesvos but in Turkish waters (case 5). When we could not reach the group directly we asked the contact person whether the travellers would want us to alert the coastguards. At 6.57am our contact person said that the travellers could see a Turkish coastguard vessel approaching them. At 7.21am we received the information that a rescue operation was launched. Hours later, at about 1.40pm, their rescue and return to Turkey was confirmed.

At 10.50am a contact person sent a Facebook message in which we were told about a group of 50 people who had stranded on Pasas Island and needed support (case 6). We briefly spoke to the travellers on the island and then contacted the Chios Port Authority who told us to ask the group to call the international emergency number 112. At 1.42pm we learned that the Greek coastguards had reached Pasas and at 2.30pm the rescue of the group was confirmed.
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • Border police patrols
     
    While the exact location of patrols is of course constantly changing, this line indicates the approximate boundary routinely patrolled by border guards’ naval assets. In the open sea, it usually correspond to the outer extent of the contiguous zone, the area in which “State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws” (UNCLOS, art. 33). Data source: interviews with border police officials.
  • Coastal radars
     
    Approximate radar beam range covered by coastal radars operating in the frame of national marine traffic monitoring systems. The actual beam depends from several different parameters (including the type of object to be detected). Data source: Finmeccanica.
  • Exclusive Economic Zone
     
    Maritime area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which the coastal state exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters. Its breadth is 200 nautical miles from the straight baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (UNCLOS, Arts. 55, 56 and 57). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans
  • Frontex operations
     
    Frontex has, in the past few years, carried out several sea operations at the maritime borders of the EU. The blue shapes indicate the approximate extend of these operations. Data source: Migreurop Altas.
  • Mobile phone coverage
     
    Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network coverage. Data source: Collins Mobile Coverage.
  • Oil and gas platforms
     
    Oil and gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Data source:
  • Search and Rescue Zone
     
    An area of defined dimensions within which a given state is has the responsibility to co-ordinate Search and Rescue operations, i.e. the search for, and provision of aid to, persons, ships or other craft which are, or are feared to be, in distress or imminent danger. Data source: IMO availability of search and rescue (SAR) services - SAR.8/Circ.3, 17 June 2011.
  • Territorial Waters
     
    A belt of sea (usually extending up to 12 nautical miles) upon which the sovereignty of a coastal State extends (UNCLOS, Art. 2). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans