Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 26th of May 2017Case name: 2017_05_26-CM105
Situation: Travellers in distress north of Libya, impossible to get a confirmation of rescue
Status of WTM Investigation: ??
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea
Summary of the Cases: On Friday, the 26th of May 2017 at 4.53pm, Father Mussie Zerai alerted the Alarm Phone to a boat in distress north of Libya, forwarding us their last position from 3.29pm. At 5.05pm we managed to reach the travellers who told us that they could see small boats in the distance, and that they were in urgent distress. By monitoring the credit of the Thuraya phone we could see that the travellers were continuously in contact with others, and our shift team was able to recharge credit to their phone when needed. We also managed to establish contact to the travellers a few more times, getting news about their situation and an updated position, which showed that the travellers were in international waters. The Italian coast guard was already informed about the case, but we could pass on information from the travellers, and forward the new position. The following morning, we contacted the coast guard to ask about the search and rescue operation, but they did not give us any information. We also tried, unsuccessfully, to get in touch with the company owning a merchant vessel which had been close to the latest position we received from the travellers. Only on the 27th in the evening MRCC in Rome replied to our email, stating that they had not found the boat. Most probably the people of this boat were intercepted by Libyan coastguards.
Last update: 12:15 Jun 10, 2017
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