Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 10th of December 2016

Case name: 2016_12_10-CM95
Situation: 150 travellers in distress between Libya and Italy, rescued by the Italian coast guard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Saturday, the 10th of December 2016 at 7.10am, Father Mussi Zerai alerted us to a group of 150 travellers in distress on their way from Libya to Italy, forwarding us their satellite phone number. At 7.40am we managed to reach the boat, but the communication was very difficult as the connection was bad, and it was not possible to get any new information. At 8.00am we reached the boat again, and this time we managed to get their position, which we passed on to the Italian coast guard. We tried to call the vessel several times without success, but by monitoring the balance on the satellite phone, we could see that they were in regular contact with others. We recharged their phone to allow them to keep making calls. At 2.40pm we talked to the Italian coast guard again, and they told us that they were looking for the boat, and estimated that they would find it within minutes, and then start the rescue operation. An hour later we talked to the group of travellers, and they informed us that they could see a boat, and when we afterwards called the Italian coast guard again, they told us that the rescue was ongoing. At 7.00pm we called back the Italian coast guard to get a confirmation of the rescue, but to our surprise they told us that rescue was still ongoing. Only at 11.20pm did we get a confirmation from the Italian coast guard that the vessel had been rescued and that all the travellers were safe.