Watch The Med Alarm Phone Report – 16th of January 2015

Case name: 2015_01_16-CM6
Situation: Vessel in distress in Central Med, carrying approximately 450 people
Status of WTM Investigation: Latest information received on the 17th of January 2015
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Friday the 16th of January 2015, in the morning, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by Father Mussie Zerai to a vessel in distress that carried approximately 450 people. Father Zerai forwarded the coordinates and the satellite phone number from the people on board as well as a text message urgently requesting a rescue operation. The first attempt of the shift team to reach the migrants failed and so they quickly turned to the Italian coastguard which stated that they knew about the case but were unwilling to give out further information.

At 12:15h, the shift team successfully reached the people on the vessel. One English-speaking person on board stated that there were about 450 people on a big boat that had lost orientation although the engine was still functional. He suggested that there were 5 women and 8 children on board and they were all without food and water. In another phone call, the Italian coastguard stated that several vessels were in distress but ensured that help was under way. The coastguard official was cooperative and recommended that people on the vessel should stay calm and attempt to move further towards the north. The shift team passed the information on to the people in distress. Several further phone calls were interrupted but new coordinates were successfully forwarded and then passed on to the coastguard.

In the following hours various calls made to the Thuraya phone by the shift team were not answered or the line seemed busy. When reaching them once again, there was a lot of noise in the line so that communication was difficult but, again, GPS coordinates were received and passed on to the coastguard which stated that a rescue operation was being carried out. The shift team sent text messages in English and French to the people in distress, notifying them about the rescue operation. The Italian coastguard called the shift team in the early evening and thanked them for the obtained information and the cooperation with them.

In the morning of the 17th of January, the MRCC Rome informed the shift team that all people on board were rescued and brought to the port of Reggio Calabria in Italy.