08/03: 1 boat in distress near Kastellorizo‬

09.03.2016 / 12:09 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 8th of March 2016

Case name: 2016_03_08-AEG228
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 1 boat in distress in the Aegean Sea, near Kastellorizo
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Tuesday the 8th of March 2016, we were alerted to one boat in distress in the Aegean Sea. At 7:31pm, we received an urgent distress call from people on a boat. They were screaming and crying for help. With the assistance of a translator, we understood that they were about 50 persons, mostly women, and that water was entering the boat. We could not find out where exactly they had started or where they were going, but it seems like they had decided to paddle to reach the land. At 8:17pm we called them again and by then, the travellers had made it to Kastellorizo. They had arrived on a beach, which was far away from the next village. We tried to call the local police, but without success. We then tried with the Port Police. They said that they would look for the people, but only if they had an exact position. Otherwise the travellers would have to walk. We sent a WhatsApp message to the travellers, asking them for a GPS position, but the message was not delivered. We could not reach them anymore and hope that they encountered people on the island.

Last update: 13:15 Mar 18, 2016

Credibility:

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