Alarm Phone alerted to 6 distress cases in the Aegean Sea near Samos, Kastellorizo, Farmakonisi, Agathonisi, Chios and Nera

20.10.2015 / 13:27 / Aegean Sea near Samos, Kastellorizo, Farmakonisi, Agathonisi, Chios and Nera

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 19th of October 2015

Case name: 2015_10_19-AEG104
Situation: Alarm Phone working on 6 distress cases in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Monday the 19th of October 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to six emergency situations in the Aegean Sea.

At 1.10am we were notified through WhatsApp about a vessel in distress between the Turkish city of Kusadasi and the Greek island of Samos (case 1). Our contact person informed us that there were 45 people on the vessel with water entering. After several attempts our shift team was able to reach the travellers directly on their phone and were told that the engine had stopped working. They sent us updated GPS coordinates that showed them close to Greek territory. We informed the Greek borderguards in Piraeus who confirmed that they would notify the authorities on Samos Island. At 4.03am the Greek authorities confirmed that the travellers had been rescued.

At 2.16am, we were informed about a small group of people, composed of a man and a woman, an adolescent and three toddlers who were disoriented on a Greek island (case 2). We obtained their GPS coordinates, showing them on the island of Kastellorizo. We then contacted the people directly and informed them that there was a road nearby that would lead them to the closest city. However, they said that it would be dangerous to climb around the cliffs and our contact person did not want to leave the rest of the group behind. We reached the hospital on the island at 2.48am and forwarded the GPS coordinates as well as the phone number on to them. At 3am we received updated coordinates that showed them closer to the road. They said that they would wait until dawn before moving on. At 8.42am they told us that they had arrived in Kastellorizo village and were fine.

At 3.54am our shift team was informed about a vessel between the Turkish city of Didim and the Greek island of Farmakonisi (case 3). We tried to contact the travellers directly but without success. We then informed the Greek coastguards and passed on the received GPS coordinates of the vessel. At 4.18am we received updated coordinates, showing them moving closer toward Greece. At 5.38am our contact person who had told us about the vessel informed us that he thought that they had reached the island independently. Afterwards we tried several times to get in touch with the group directly but were never able to reach out to them. We informed the Greek coastguards that this group had reached Farmakonisi Island and was presumably in need of further assistance.

At 4.12am, a contact person told us about a group of 40 people who had reached Agathonisi Island but needed help (case 4). Following her account, one woman had just given birth. At 4.32am we reached the group directly and they told us that they were Syrians and too exhausted to walk on. Amongst the group were a lot of children and pregnant woman. At 4.51am we contacted the local hospital and were asked to call another phone which, however, was not answered. We reached the Greek coastguards who said that they would inform the responsible authorities. For hours it was not clear whether they had been found and were cared for medically. Finally, at 10.06am, our initial contact person said that the group was at the local police station and was fine.

At 5.49am we learned about another group of about 40 people who were on a vessel in distress near the Greek island of Chios (case 5). At 6.08am the travellers called us directly and some of them were clearly in panic. We immediately informed the Chios coastguards. Afterwards the travellers could not be reached again until 7.51am when they reached out to us and confirmed their rescue. They sent updated coordinates showing them in the harbour of Chios.

At 9.12am, Nawal Soufi’s activist collective informed us about a large group of about 200 people who had stranded on Nera Island/Greece and had run out of water, food and milk for the babies (case 6). Our shift team tried to get in touch with the travellers but was unable to reach them. We then forwarded the gathered information to the Greek coastguards. At 11.50am, the travellers responded to our WhatsApp message and confirmed that they had found help and were in the process of leaving Nera and moving toward Samos. They also reported that the Greek police had tried to force one of the travellers to pick up trash and when he refused they arrested him and his mother.
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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