Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of November 2016

Case name: 2016_11_22-CM91
Situation: Alarmphone alerted to boat in distress in Central Med; rescue confirmed
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday the 22nd of November 2016 at about noon, Father Mussie Zerai alerted the Alarm Phone to a boat in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea and forwarded a Thuraya satellite phone number to us. We immediately checked the credit of the phone and recharged it with 20 units. We also tried to call the travellers repeatedly in the course of the next two hours, but did not reach them. However, the credit of the phone did not change during this time. At 1.45pm, we called the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome, informed them about the boat in distress and forwarded its satellite phone number. We also provided MRCC Rome with the same information via email. In the course of the afternoon, we continued to check the credit and call the phone number regularly, yet we did not reach the travellers. At 6pm, we again called the Italian coastguard and they confirmed to us that the boat with this Thuraya number was found and that all travellers had been rescued. In the evening, MRCC Rome communicated that 1400 people had been rescued on that day in 12 rescued operations, in the course of which 8 people had been found dead.