22/09: 1 boat rescued to Chios, 1 boat rescued and brought to Leros, 1 boat intercepted to Turkey

Verified

  In Distress

23.09.2018 / 08:28 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of September 2018
Case name: 2018_09_22-AEG430
Situation: 1 boat rescued to Chios, 1 boat rescued and brought to Leros, 1 boat intercepted to Turkey

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On September 22, 2018, the Alarm Phone was alerted to three cases. The first involved a boat of 53 people (29 children, 10 women, 14 men) stranded on Vatos / Ouinousses, a small island near Chios. They were picked up by the Greek coastguard and brought to Chios. The second boat was rescued in front of Farmakonisi, just as the Alarm Phone was alerted to their situation. The third boat was intercepted by the Turkish Coastguard before they reached Greek waters.

The Alarm Phone was alerted to the first case at 4.24am CEST, and were told that the boat was in a bad situation and would not be able to reach the island Chios on their own. Nevertheless, the boat was moving on until they reached the small uninhabited island Vatos in front of Ouinousses. The Alarm Phone tried to reach the boat several times but was unable to get through. At 5.30am, the shift team called the Greek coastguard to alert them to the stranded boat. At 9.45am, the shift team received news that the group had been rescued from the island, and at 9.51 the news was confirmed that the travelers had arrived safely in Chios/ Greece.

The shift team was alerted to the second boat of 30 people at 6.32am CEST. Almost immediately, the team received news that the boat had been rescued and broughat to Greece, which was confirmed at 14.50pm.

The shift team received news of a final boat at 7.30am CEST. The boat had 60 passengers. The shift team lost contact with the boat but continued to try to keep in touch and to get their location. At 10.08am, the shift team received news that the Turkish coastguard intercepted the boat after a German NATO vessel had spotted them and that the Turkish Coastguard brought them back to Turkey.
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

Related Reports

08:05 Oct 08, 2019 / Aegean Kms
07/10: 24 people (including 10 children) stranded on Oinousses, picked up the next morning
14:53 Mar 19, 2017 / Aegean Sea Kms
18/03: Group of 28, including many women and children, stranded on Greek island of Vatos; all rescued to Chios
17:42 Feb 20, 2019 / Aegean Sea Kms
19/2: 14 travellers stuck on Vatos, rescued and brought to Chios.
20:03 Apr 25, 2019 / Aegean Sea Kms
24/4: 39 people stranded on Pasas, near Chios Island, found and rescued
14:49 Mar 17, 2017 / Aegean Sea Kms
16/03: Alarmphone in contact with 12 travellers stranded on Greek island of Pasas; rescued to Chios