Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 23rd of December 2015

Case name: 2015_12_23-AEG165
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 9 distress cases in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Wednesday the 23rd of December 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 9 distress situations in the Aegean region. One group stranded on Agathonisi Island and it is highly likely that they were able to walk to a village in the morning. 2 different groups had stranded on Samos Island and they were found and rescued as was another group that had stranded on Chios Island. The Greek coastguards rescued 2 vessels just beside one another near Chios Island, and 1 vessel off Lesvos Island. One group had reached Strongyli Island independently and were subsequently found and rescued by the Greek coastguard. The Turkish coastguards rescued 2 vessels that were in distress in Turkish waters.

At 00.46am our Alarm Phone shift team was contacted and informed about a group of 20 travellers who had stranded on the Greek island Agathonisi and needed support (case 1). We informed the police on the island and they stated that the group would have to find a village independently. We informed the travellers and they began to walk. At 2am they said that they would make a campfire and wait until the morning. We informed the UNHCR about the case. While we do not have a final confirmation that they found safety, it seems highly likely that they walked to the village in the morning.

At 3.12am we learned about a vessel with about 100 people on board which had stranded on a small rock off the Greek Island of Samos (case 2). We informed the Samos Port Authority and they confirmed that they would take on the case and send a rescue vessel. At 3.35am already they were at the location of the travellers and conducted a rescue operation.

At 6am we were contacted via Facebook and alerted to a group of 40 people, including 6 children, who were at sea in Turkish waters (case 3). We tried several times to reach the group but were unable to get through. Only in the afternoon on the day we were able to receive the confirmation that they had been rescued by the Turkish coastguards and were returned safely.

At 6.38am we received information about another distress situation in Turkish waters where a vessel sought to reach Chios Island (case 4). Our contact person had already alerted the Turkish coastguards. At 7.58am we were finally able to get through to the travellers and while we could not make out much there was a lot of shouting in the background. At around the same time messages via social media reached us where a person wrote ‘urgent help please, my brother is drowning in Chios Island 10km away in Greece’. The forwarded coordinates were very similar to those of the vessel in question, even if it could not be fully confirmed that this was the case. At 8.42am we received another distress message via a contact person, informing us about a group of 40 people, including 20 children who needed help at a position very close to the ones we dealt with before.
We informed the Greek coastguards and they conducted a successful rescue operations for two vessels.

At 1.20pm we were informed about a group of 100 people, including 40 children who had stranded on Pasas Island, near Chios (case 5). We informed the Chios Port Authority and they confirmed that they knew about the group and would go transfer them off the island.

At 7.10pm we were contacted about a vessel carrying 35 people, including children, on its way to Lesvos Island (case 6). The engine on the vessel had stopped working and they needed support. We called the Greek coastguards and they confirmed that they would take on the case and go search for the vessel. At 8.30pm we contacted the coastguards again and they confirmed that they had successfully rescued the group.

At 8.39pm we were informed about a group of 24 people, including 12 children and 3 infants who were on a vessel very close to a small island near the Greek Strongyli Island (case 7). When we contacted the Greek coastguards shortly afterwards they confirmed that they knew about the group already and stated that they had safely reached the island. The coastguards had also already contacted the local authorities. A few minutes later our initial contact person also confirmed that they had reached the island. At 10.30pm the Port Authority on Kastellorizo Island confirmed that the people had been transferred from Strongyli to Kastellorizo.

At 11.21pm we learned about a group of 20 travellers who had stranded on the island of Samos (case 8). We were not able to establish direct contact to the group and thus informed the local authorities on Samos who confirmed that they would inform the police and search for them. At 2am one of the travellers sent us a WhatsApp message, asking for help. At 2.08am the Samos authorities stated that they were still looking for the group. At 6.50am we received a WhatsApp message from the group saying ‘thanks’ and shortly afterwards we received the confirmation that they had been found and rescued.

At 11.39pm several contact persons alerted us to the same distress case, involving 40 people on their way to Lesvos (case 9). We spoke to the travellers directly a few minutes later and they said that their engine had stopped working and the waves were high. We informed the Greek coastguards which suggested that the vessel was still in Turkish waters. We then alerted the Turkish coastguards who confirmed that they would send out a rescue vessel. At 1.40am one of the contact persons confirmed that they had been rescued.