Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 29th of February 2016

Case name: 2016_02_29-AEG222
Situation: 5 groups in distress east of Lesvos, 2 stranded on Samos; all rescued
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Monday the 29th of February 2016, the Alarm Phone was in contact with 7 groups of travellers in distress near the Greek island of Lesvos and on the island of Samos. 4 boats had been in distress at sea east of Lesvos. Three of them were rescued by the Greek coastguard and one by the Turkish coastguard. Beyond that, one group of travellers had stranded on a rocky Turkish island and was rescued by the Turkish coastguard, while two groups had stranded on Samos and were rescued by Médecins Sans Frontières and Greek authorities respectively.

At 1.30am the Alarm Phone was informed about a group of 36 travellers whose boat was stuck between some rocks close to the Turkish coast (case 1). We tried to reach the Turkish coastguard but at several numbers no one reacted to our alerts. Only at 1.56am we were able to speak to an officer and to forward our information. He promised to send a rescue vessel to the people in distress. We tried to inform the travellers accordingly at 2am, but did not reach them. At 2.30am we talked to the Turkish coastguard again and were told that a rescue vessel had arrived at the spot, but that it was difficult to reach the travellers because of the rocks. At 2.38am the travellers told us that they could see the coastguard vessel. During the night we were not able to obtain any further information, but at 6am the Turkish coastguard told us that they would probably use a helicopter to rescue the travellers from the rocks. At about midday we received an e-mail from the Turkish coastguard, informing us that they have rescued 70 travellers from the rocky island.

Between 3.40am and 5.15am several contact persons forwarded GPS positions and phone numbers of various boats in distress southeast of the Greek island of Lesvos to the Alarm Phone, the exact number of which remained unclear (case 2-4). At 3.40am we received a first GPS position directly from a boat in distress and were informed about 55 people on board (case 2). We called the Greek coastguard on Lesvos at 3.49am and forwarded the information. At 3.51am we also asked the travellers to call the emergency hotline 112 themselves. At 4.30am the travellers provided us with updated coordinates, which we forwarded to the Greek coastguard. At 5.20am we learned from the travellers that the Greek coastguard had rescued them.

At about 4.30am several contact persons forwarded similar GPS positions of another boat in distress in this area to us (case 3). We were informed about 50 - 60 travellers whose boat’s engine had stopped working. We called the Greek coastguard immediately afterwards and also talked to the travellers directly. They seemed to be very scared and we asked them to also call the emergency hotline 112 directly. At 5.45am one of our contact persons confirmed to us that the travellers had been rescued by the Greek coastguard.

At 5.14am another case of distress southeast of Lesvos was reported to us by several contact persons (case 4). 65 - 70 travellers were in need of help. We asked the contact persons to urge the travellers to call 112 at 5.20am. At 5.34am we tried to call the Greek coastguard but did not reach. However, at 6.07am, one of the contact persons confirmed to us, that this boat, too, had been rescued by the Greek coastguard.

At 9.25pm a contact persons informed us about a boat in distress in Turkish territorial waters east of Lesvos, with 50 travellers on board, who had asked to be rescued, as their boat was about to sink (case 5). We tried to call the travellers but did not reach them. Thus we discussed with the contact person and finally agreed to call the Turkish coastguard, although we did not get this request directly from the travellers. We called the Turkish coastguard at 9.42pm and forwarded all our information also via e-mail. At 10.15pm we received an updated GPS position and forwarded it to the Turkish coastguard via e-mail at 10.20pm. At 10.40pm several other contact persons wrote to us that the Turkish coastguard had arrived at the last position. However, our initial contact person was not able to confirm this information at 11.55pm. Thus we continued to call the travellers, but did not reach them. Finally, at 1.20am, the Turkish coastguard confirmed to us that they had rescued the boat in question.

At 10.50pm a contact person informed us about a group of 65 travellers who had stranded on the Greek island of Samos (case 6). We tried to call the travellers directly, but did not reach them. Only at 3.20am we were able to talk to them. In the meantime, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) had arrived at their place and provided them with food and blankets. We informed our contact person about this development at 4am and at 9am he confirmed to us that the travellers had been picked up and were safe.

At 11.15pm a contact person informed us about another group of 10 people who had also stranded on the island of Samos (case 7). We tried to call the group several times in order to receive their position, but could not reach them. At 1.40am the contact person provided us with the GPS coordinates, which showed them at the northeastern coast of Samos. We tried to inform the local police and the port police of Samos at about 1.50am, but they did not take our information, but asked us to call back in the morning. At 2am we also called MSF, but did not reach them. At 4am we finally talked to MSF and learned that they had already informed the Greek authorities about this group. During the morning we tried to call the travellers again and again, but did not reach them. But finally, at 1pm in the afternoon, ouf contact person confirmed to us that the group had been picked up from the rocky beach.