Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 9th of January 2016

Case name: 2016_02_09-AEG204
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 7 boats in in distress near Lesvos, Chios and Samos; 4 groups stranded on Pasas, Ro and Kastellorizo
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Tuesday the 9th of February 2016 the Alarm Phone was informed about 11 cases of distress in the Aegean Sea. We were alerted to 7 boats in distress close to the Greek islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos, which were all rescued by the Greek coastguard afterwards. Beyond that we were in contact with 4 groups of travellers who had stranded on the islands of Pasas, Ro and Kastellorizo. They, too, were picked up by Greek authorities.

At 2am the Alarm Phone was informed about a group of 60 people who had stranded on the Greek island of Ro (case 1). We called the travellers and forwarded the phone number of the port police on the neighbouring island of Kastellorizo to them. At 2.15am our contact person informed us that the travellers have seen a vessel approaching the island, but 30 minutes later the contact person told us that the vessel had not picked them up. Thus, at 2.50am we called the port authorities on Kastellorizo by ourselves. We learned that they were already aware of the group and had sent a rescue vessel. However, at 3.50am, the contact person told us that the travellers were still on the island. At 4am we talked to the port authorities again and they promised to us that the rescue vessel would arrive soon. Two hours later, at 6am, the contact person confirmed to us that the travellers had been picked up and also forwarded some photos to us, showing several rescue vessels in operation.

At 3.10am another contact person alerted us to a boat with 35 people on board, close to the Greek island of Chios (case 2). He had lost contact to the group one hour earlier. At 3.20am we called the travellers and learned that they had been rescue by the Greek coastguard and had safely arrived on Chios.

At 4.30am the same contact person forwarded the GPS position and phone number of a boat east of Lesvos to us (case 3). 65 people were in urgent distress, but we were not able to talk them directly. Thus we called the Greek coastguard in Piraeus at 4.40am and forwarded the position of the boat to them. At 5am the contact person confirmed to us that the group had been rescued.

At 6.29am we were informed via Facebook about a sinking boat north of the Greek island of Lesvos, which seemed to be pushed-back into Turkish territorial waters (case 4). We talked to the travellers directly and got the impression that they were in a dangerous situation. Thus at 6.33am we called the Turkish coastguard, in order to inform them that we are aware of the situation and in contact with the travellers. At 6.34am and again at 6.39am we received updated positions of the boat, which indicated that they had entered Greek territorial waters and were moving fast in the direction of Lesvos. At 7.02am the contact person sent us a video, showing the boat moving independently, but being accompanied by a rescue vessel, probably from Greenpeace / Médecins Sans Frontières. In the following hours we were not able to establish contact to the travellers again, but we assumed that the boat had safely arrived on Lesvos.

At 8am we were alerted to a group of 45 travellers, who had stranded on the Greek island of Pasas (case 5). Although we were not able to talk to the travellers directly, we informed the port authorities on Chios at 9am. However, the officer was reluctant to take our information, as they had already picked up two boats from the island and claimed that they were aware of all groups who had arrived on the island. Afterwards, we were not able to reach the travellers again.

At 8.15am a contact person forwarded the GPS position of a boat east of Chios to us, which had been stopped by another boat, probably with an Italian flag (case 6). At 8.20am we were told that the travellers were transferred to Chios. Afterwards, we were not able to reach the travellers again.

At 4.35am we were informed via WhatsApp about a boat in distress in Turkish territorial waters east of Lesvos (case 7). The boat’s engine had problems, but the travellers hoped to be able to reach Greek territorial waters. We informed them how long it would take until they crossed the border and provided them with tips to restart the engine. Afterwards we received more information on the travellers on board: they were 48 people, among them 18 women, 10 children, 2 handicapped, 2 pregnant and 4 elderly people. At 4.50pm the contact person asked us to alert the Greek coastguard, because he had lost contact to the group. We called the coastguard at 5pm and forwarded all our information via phone and e-mail. At 5.20pm our contact person informed us that the coastguard had rescued the boat.

At 9pm a contact person informed us via Facebook about a group of 8 adults and 3 children who had stranded on the island of Kastellorizo (case 8). We reached them via WhatsApp at 9.20pm and they told us that they were in need of being picked up by an ambulance. The children were sick and wet after falling into the water while landing at the island. We urged them to call the emergency hotline 112 by themselves and promised to inform the port police. At 9.45pm we informed the local police on Kastellorizo and forwarded our information.

At about 9.20pm several contact persons alerted us to two boats on their way to the island of Samos, with 15 and 12 people on board respectively (cases 9 + 10). Their engines had stopped, thus we informed the Greek coastguard via e-mail at 9.35pm. At 9.40pm we talked to the second boat and learned that a coastguard vessel was approaching them. Beyond that we asked the travellers to send us their latest position. At 9.45pm we called the coastguard again and forwarded this position to them. They confirmed to us that they would start to rescue the travellers soon. At 10.05pm one of the contact persons confirmed us that both boats were rescued and that the travellers thanked us for our help.

At 10.45pm a contact person informed us about a group of 13 people, 6 women, 2 men and 5 children, who had stranded on the island of Pasas two hours earlier (case 11). We sent them a WhatsApp message asked them to go to the church on the eastern side of the island. At 10.55pm we called the port authorities on Chios and were told that they had already been informed and were planning to pick the travellers up as soon as possible. Afterwards we informed the travellers accordingly.