29/09: Alarm phone alerted to two boats in distress in the Aegean Sea

30.09.2018 / 20:29 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 29th of September 2018
Case name: 2018_09_29-AEG434
Situation: Alarm phone alerted to two boats in distress in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Monday the 29th of September the Alarm phone was alerted to two boats in distress in the Aegean Sea, one of which was rescued to Samos by the Greek coast guard. The second boat capsized – 4 people survived, 5 bodies were recovered and 2 people are still missing.

At 9:43pm CEST the shift team was contacted by a concerned friend trying to find information about travellers who were on a boat which had left Turkey that morning. They informed us that 4 of the travellers from the boat had returned to Turkey, but the whereabouts of the remaining 7 people was unknown. Later, at 11:46pm we received further information that the boat had capsized, and also some names of the travellers on board. At 12:26pm on Sunday the 30th of September the contact person informed us that 5 of the travellers had died, and their bodies were awaiting identification in a hospital in Turkey. At 3:10pm we learned that the bodies had been identified, but that two of the travellers from the boat were still missing. We have not yet received further information on the travellers who survived.

At 10:45pm we were informed about a boat in distress which was carrying 15 people (including 6 women and 3 children). When we made contact with the boat they told us that they were sinking and asked us to call the Greek coastguard. When we provided the GPS position to the Greek coast guard they told us that as the boat was in Turkish waters, they would not send a rescue. Later the boat sent us an updated GPS position located in Greek waters. The Greek coastguard began to patrol the area looking for the boat, and at 12:48am on Sunday the 30th of September they informed us that they had rescued a boat of 15 people from the position which we had provided. Later on, the rescue was confirmed by the contact person.

Last update: 09:27 Oct 04, 2018

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