Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 11th of September 2017

Case name: 2017_09_11-AEG304
Situation: 30 travellers rescued by Sea Watch to Kos after their engine broke down.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Monday the 11th of September 2017, at 0.31am, a contact person alerted the Alarm Phone shift team to a boat in distress, forwarding us the phone number of the travellers. At 0.40am we managed to reach the travellers, who informed us that they were 30 people on the boat, including 10 children. They were close to the Greek island Kos, but as their engine broke down they were not able to move forward. We agreed that we would alert the Greek coast guard. At 00.45am we called the Greek coast guard, and forwarded the information we had, including the position of the travellers. The coast guard informed us that they had already sent a boat towards this position. We stayed in contact with the travellers and the contact person, and received a new position, showing that they had managed to move a bit forwards. At 1.20am the contact person informed us that the coast guard had arrived, and that the rescue was taking place. Shortly after the travellers sent us a photo showing them onboard a rescue vessel. We later found out that they had been rescued by the SAR NGO Sea Watch, who had been asked to carry out the operation by the Greek Coast Guard. The travellers were brought to the port in Kos.