Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 13th of August 2019
Case name: 2019_08_13-CM182
Situation: 80 travellers whose fate is unclear, 25 travellers departed from Tunisia probably rescued to Malta, 32 travellers departed from from Zuwarah intercepted back to Libya.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday the 13th of August the Alarm Phone was alerted to three boats in distress in the Central Mediterranean region. The first boat had departed from Libya carrying 80 travellers. Their fate is still unknown. The second boat had departed from Tunisia with 25 persons on board and was probably rescued to Malta. The third boat which had also departed from Libya carrying 32 travellers, was intercepted by the so-called Libyan coastguard.

At around 10 am CEST, the Alarm Phone was alerted by a fisherman from Tripoli to a boat in distress carrying 80 travellers. The fisherman told us that he had crossed the boat, which had left from Garboulli, earlier in the morning with a colleague and that they gave the travellers the Alarm Phone number as well as food and water. We were never able to establish contact with the travellers, however in the afternoon we sent an email to the so-called Libyan coastguard with the information we had. We never received a response to our email, and the fate of the travellers remains unknown.

The same morning, at around 11.15 am, we were alerted by a relative of one of the travellers on a boat carrying approximately 25 travellers. The boat was 9 meters long and wooden and had started more than two days earlier from Zarzis, Tunisia. The relative was very worried as they were not able to establish contact with the travellers since their departure. The travellers did not have a satellite phone with them. We learned from a contact person in Malta that a boat carrying 25 travellers was rescued in the Maltese SAR zone. The relative gave us the name of one of the persons on board as well as their nationality. With this information we sent an email to the Maltese coastguard in the evening, asking if this corresponded with the rescued travellers. Not receiving a response, the following morning, the 14th of August, we additionally sent an email to the so-called Libyan coastguard. This email also remains unanswered. Around 6 pm the worried relative called us again, asking about the fate of the travellers. He informed us that he had managed to speak to the travellers, who told him that they had been rescued by the military of Malta. With this new information we called the Maltese authorities several times to ask for confirmation of the rescue, but they always refused to share any information with us.

In the afternoon on the same day, the Alarm Phone was alerted by a relative of a traveller on a boat in distress carrying 30 people. Around 4 pm CEST we managed to establish direct contact with the travellers. The connection was bad, but we understood that they were 32 people including 5 children. The travellers were very scared. For several hours we tried to get a GPS position from the boat; however due to bad connection and difficult communication we were unable to obtain this. Around 6 pm we alerted both the Italian and Libyan authorities to the case although we did not have a GPS position. In the evening, we were informed that the boat had been intercepted by the so-called Libyan coastguard.