Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 14th of November 2015

Case name: 2015_11_14-AEG129
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 6 distress cases in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Saturday the 14th of November 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 6 emergency situations in the Aegean Sea. In addition, we were informed about several other situations in which we either could not obtain required information in order to act or that did not need further assistance from our side.

About 30 minutes past midnight, we received a distress call from a group of travellers already on Samos Island (case 1). They were very anxious and told us in panic that they were on the island with 3 men, 2 women and 8 children. We were first told that one child had passed away which, fortunately, turned out to be a misunderstanding later on. We informed them to immediately call the international emergency number 112. Shortly afterwards they passed on their GPS position to our shift team. We then informed the Greek coastguards who took down the details of the situation and confirmed that they would launch a rescue operation. At 5.33am, we were informed that the group had been found and was safe.

At 3.42am we received information about a distress situation near Chios Island/Greece (case 2). We reached the travellers directly shortly afterwards and they informed us that 40 people were in acute distress. We contacted the Greek coastguards who, however, said that they knew of this vessel but had not found it. Later on the coastguards contacted us to tell us that the vessel was in fact in Turkish waters. We contacted the travellers again and offered to call the Turkish coastguards which they did not want us to do. At about 4.39am we received the confirmation that they had reached Greece.

At 7.18am we were informed about a vessel moving toward Farmakonisi Island/Greece (case 3). We tried to reach the travellers directly but could not get through to them. Our contact person shortly afterwards confirmed that they were safe.

At 11.34am, we received a Facebook message that informed us about a vessel moving toward Chios Island/Greece, carrying 37 people (case 4). We contacted the Greek coastguards who said that they would look into the situation. At 2.14pm the Turkish coastguards contacted us and told us that they had been searching for the 37 people without success. We then contacted the Greek coastguards to find out why they informed the Turkish authorities. They suggested that the vessel’s coordinates showed them in Turkish waters. At 2.55pm we received an email from the Turkish coastguards, informing us that a group of 59 people was rescued very close to the mentioned position. They confirmed the phone number of one of the travellers. It is thus very likely that this was the group in question.

At 5.02pm we were informed about 50 people in distress and were forwarded mobile phone numbers and GPS positions (case 5). We contacted one of the numbers but were unable to communicate as people were screaming on the other end. We immediately informed the Greek coastguards who promised to search for them. At 6.45pm the travellers confirmed that the coastguards had contacted them and at 7.50pm the Turkish coastguards informed us that the Greek coastguards had rescued the group.

At about 9pm we were informed about a group comprising 21 people, including 6 women and 10 children (case 6). We reached them directly and they said that they were lost on the Greek island Stroggili and needed help. They had a disabled child amongst them and were unable to move on. We reached the Greek coastguards at 9.19pm and they confirmed that they would launch a rescue operation.