Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 1st of January 2016

Case name: 2016_01_01-AEG173
Situation: 2 boats in distress near the Greek island of Lesvos
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Friday the 1st of January 2016 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 2 boats in distress on their way to the Greek island of Lesvos. While one boat reached the island independently, the other boat was rescued by the Turkish coast guard and transferred back to Turkey.

At 11.20pm the Alarm Phone was informed via WhatsApp about a boat in distress east of Lesvos and received its GPS position and the phone number of the travellers on board (case 1). After several unsuccessful attempts we reached the travellers at 11.40pm. They were panicking and communication was difficult, due to language problems. At 11.43pm we called the Greek coastguard and learned that they were aware of this boat in distress and had already sent a rescue vessel to the position in question. Afterwards we also sent an e-mail to the Greek coastguard and to the UNHCR Greece. In the meantime, several further contact persons alerted us to this particular boat in distress. In a phone call with the Greek coastguard at 0.30am we learned that they were not able to find the boat in distress at the given position. Thus we called the travellers again at 0.34am. This time we were able to talk to an English-speaking traveller and he told us that they had already reached the Greek island of Lesvos. They had managed to arrive independently on the island and were safe.

In the same night, at 11.50pm, another contact person forwarded a distress call of a sinking boat to us, which was still close to the Turkish coast (case 2). The contact person had already alerted the Turkish coastguard, but asked us to also do so. Around midnight we talked to the Turkish coastguard, who was indeed aware of this boat in distress. At 0.45am we called them again and asked for news. We were told that the coastguard had talked to the travellers and had learned that the travellers had reached the Turkish coast again and were not in need of help anymore. However, at 0.55am, our contact person told us that the travellers were not back at the Turkish coast, but had stranded on a tiny rocky island, precisely at the position he had forwarded to us. Thus, we called the Turkish coastguard again at 1.10am and explained the situation. They promised to send a rescue vessel that would pick up the travellers from the rocky island. At around 1.20am we received further alerts to this case and were provided with photos and several other phone numbers of the travellers in distress. We learned that their situation was very bad and that they were not able to wait to be picked up until the next morning, as the night was very cold and their clothes wet. At 2am we called the Turkish coastguard again and stressed the urgency of the situation. They assured us that two of their vessels were in the region, in order to transfer the travellers to Turkish mainland. However, in the following hours, our contact persons repeatedly told us that the travellers were still waiting and no rescue vessel had arrived. In several phone calls to the Turkish coastguard at 3.20am, 4.35am and finally at 7.20am we were first told that they were conducting another large rescue operation in this area and that the travellers have to wait. Afterwards, we were informed that the coastguard was not able to land on the rocky island, as this was too dangerous. Thus, in the last call, they told us that the travellers have to be evacuated form the island with the help of a helicopter. This helicopter had started in Izmir/Turkey at about 7am. At 9am we called the coastguard again and learned that they had rescued all travellers, about 40 in total. We informed all involved contact persons about the successful rescue operation, and finally, at about 4pm, we also reached the travellers directly and received confirmation that they had been brought back to Turkey and that they were safe.