15/01: 24 people in sinking boat, pushed-back by Hellenic Coast Guard, rescued to Turkey

16.01.2022 / 11:29 / Eastern Med

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 15th of January 2022
Case name: 2022_01_15-AEG853
Situation: Hellenic Coast Guard pushed-back a boat with 24 travelers, then just watches as they are in distress in a sinking boat, later rescued by Turkish Coast Guard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Eastern Med
Summary of the Case:

In the middle of the night of the 15th of January, Alarm Phone received a call from a worried relative, alerting us to sinking boat with 24 travellers including women and children abroad, in the Aegean sea who were trying to reach Rhodos. They had set out from Marmaris in Turkey, were pushed back by Hellenic Coast Guard who had forced them to turn around and go back towards Turkey. Shortly after the boat became in distress as it was leaking badly.

When we received the call, we contacted the authorities at 00:13 alerting them of the boat in distress. We established direct contact with the boat who informed us that there was a lot of water in the boat, and they don't know how long they could go on. They could still see the Hellenic Coast Guard boat about 100 metres away, watching them sinking but refusing to rescue. At 01:10 the travelers told us that their engine had stopped working and they wouldn't last another 30 minutes before sinking completely. We contacted again the Turkish Coast Guard who were on their way, and at 02:34 they confirmed that the boat was rescued and on their way back to shore.

Last update: 13:22 May 10, 2022

Sources

https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1482287557274656777

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