Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 12th of March 2016

Case name: 2016_03_12-AEG232
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 4 distress cases in the Aegean - near Lesvos, Kastellorizo, Pasas, and Samos
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Saturday, the 12th of March 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 4 cases of distress in the Aegean Sea. In one case a man had reached the Greece by swimming. He stranded without dry clothes, water or food on a rock formation near Kastellorizo, where he was picked up by the Port Police. A group of 48 travellers stranded on Pasas, from where the Chios Port Authorities picked them up. In the two other cases travellers were in distress at sea, because their engine was not working. Both groups were rescued by the Greek Coastguard.

Case 1: At 2:11am, we received a WhatsApp message alerting us to a person stranded on the rock formation Psomi, near Kastellorizo. He had reached the island by swimming and was therefore wet and without any clothes. We immediately reached out to the Port Police on Kastellorizo. They told us to call back 10 minutes later, because they had problems with their computer system. At 2:37am, we called the Port Police again. The Police Officer promised to send a patrol to check on the swimmer. We also sent an e-mail about the case to the authorities and the UNHCR. At 4:17am, we checked with the Port Police again and they confirmed that they had found the traveller and that he was fine.

Case 2: At 5:58am, we received another Whatsapp alert about a group of about 45 to 55 travellers, who had stranded 15 minutes earlier on the island of Pasas. At 6:06am we informed the Chios Port Authority about the case and they promised to send a boat. Throughout the morning, we tried to get in touch with the travellers on the island, but no one picked up the phone. At 9.20am we called the Port Authority again. They told us that the travellers were still on the island, but doing ok. At 2:50pm the Port Authority confirmed that they had picked up 48 persons from Pasas.

Case 3: At 11:10pm we received a distress message on Facebook about a group of 40 travellers (among whom were 13 children and one person with a broken leg) South east of Lesvos. We were given three contact numbers of travellers on board, which we tried to reach, but neither our calls nor our Whatsapp messages were answered. At 11.35pm our contact person told us that he had just talked to the travellers. At 0.10am we received another Facebook message from the contact person saying that the travellers had been rescued by the Greek Coastguard. At 9:29am we also received an answer from one of the numbers of the people who had been on the boat. They confirmed that they were in safety.

Case 4: At 11:07pm, we received a WhatsApp message about a boat with 35 persons on board in distress in Greek waters north of Samos. The boat did not move anymore. The contact person asked us to inform the Greek Coastguard. At 11.34 a second person informed us about the case, saying that there were 48 travellers and that the boat had run out of fuel. We tried to reach the travellers, but no-one picked up the phone. At 11.46pm the second contact person wrote us that they had been drifting on the water without fuel for almost ten hours. The second contact person was in direct contact with the travellers and had also already informed the Greek Coastguard. At 24 minutes past midnight, we reached out to our second contact person and he told us that the Greek Coastguard had probably rescued the boat. At 1.33am, he confirmed that all travellers were safe.