20/11: 70 people in a shipwreck close to Crete, 1 person died

21.11.2021 / 11:22 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 20th of November 2021

Case name: 20211120-AEG839
Situation: 70 people were in severe distress off Crete. The Status of WTM Investigation: ConcludedPlace of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

In the evening of the 20th of November we were alerted to a boat in distress close to Crete. We immediately called the travelers, who told us they were 70 people on board (10 children, 7 women and 53 men) of a white yacht. Their engine as well as their sail was broken and the waves were high.
At 21:30 CET we informed the Hellenic Coast Guard in Piraeus about the situation and asked them to launch a rescue operation.
At 21:35 CET the people on board told us that some of them have fainted.
At 22:35 CET we called the Central port of Chania to alert them as well - they told us they already knew about the distress since five hours. The people on board tried to reach the Hellenic Coast Guard as well but communication in English was not possible.
At 01:13 CET the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Piraeus told us that we can be sure, that if there is a boat at that position in urgent problems, they will perform a rescue. This proved to be wrong: During the night we kept contact with the people on board.Their ship was sinking while the wind got stronger and the waves got higher.
We kept on calling different authorities who didn't act until the morning.

In the afternoon of the 21st of November a relative wrote us "I got news now. Since the morning there is a ship near them, and a while ago it went to them and hit the yacht twice. There are people who fell into the water. And after they fell into the water, they were saved. We want to check that and are there any missing?".
We later found out: While 69 people were taken to Crete, one man died during the shipwreck. Until today, many details remain unclear, we will continue to investigate what exactly has happened.

You can find the tweets of alarmphone here: https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1462465964256202758?s=20

You can find the solidarity statement by ROSA NERA Squat & Chania Social Center / Migrants’ Club: https://alarmphone.org/en/2021/12/12/70-people-in-a-shipwreck-close-to-crete-one-person-died/?post_type_release_type=post

Last update: 16:07 Dec 13, 2021

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