29/03: 22 travellers stranded on Pasas, rescued by the Greek coast guard

30.03.2017 / 17:48 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 29th of March 2017

Case name: 2017_03_29-AEG284
Situation: 22 travellers stranded on Pasas, close to Chios, rescued by the Greek coast guard Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Wednesday the 29th of March 2017, at 1.07am, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a contact person to a group of 22 travellers, including four children and a pregnant woman, stranded on the Greek island Pasas. The contact person forwarded us the position and the WhatsApp number of the people. We were not able to reach the travellers, but at 1.33am we alerted the Port authorities in Chios to the situation. They told us that they could not carry out the rescue operation before the following morning. At 5.16am the contact person informed us that the travellers were freezing, and that the situation especially was getting critical for the pregnant woman and a small baby. We passed on this information to the port authorities, and they promised us that the travellers would be rescued within a few hours. After this we could no longer reach the travellers and the contact person. At 8.42am we called the port authorities again, and they confirmed the rescue, stating that the people would be brought to Chios. Later we got a message from the contact person who had been speaking to the travellers again, and could confirm the rescue.

Last update: 17:52 Apr 15, 2017

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