Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 18th of September 2019
Case name: 2019_09_18-CM192
Situation: 45 travellers rescued to Malta, 28 travellers rescued by the Italian coastguard and 120 travellers intercepted by the so-called Libyan coastguard and brought back to Libya.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Wednesday the 18th of September the Alarm Phone was alerted to three boats in distress that had departed from Libya. One boat was rescued to Malta, one to Italy and one was intercepted back to Libya.

In the morning of Wednesday the 18th of September the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boat in distress that had departed from Tripoli and was carrying 45 travellers. We were informed that there were many pregnant women on board and that one woman was about to give birth., The boat was lacking petrol and their satellite phone was almost out of battery. At around 9am CEST we received their GPS position which was close to Malta. Ten minutes later we called the Maltese authorities and passed on the information. At 10.40 am we spoke again to the travellers who told us that they had been at sea for two days and that one of the pregnant women was bleeding and was in need of urgent medical attention. More than three hours later the Maltese coastguard had not confirmed the launching of a rescue operation. At 1 pm contact with the travellers broke down, and there was still no rescue in-sight. Around 6.15 pm we finally got confirmation from the Maltese authorities that rescue was in progress.

Around 7 pm we received a call from 28 travellers in distress who had departed from Libya. However, as the connection was very bad, we were unable to obtain a GPS position. After several failed attempts to re-establish contact with the travellers at 8.45 pm our shift team was able to obtain a GPS position. We were also informed that there were 3 women on board and one nine-months old baby. The boat was wooden and blue and the travellers were lacking food and water. The boat was in the Maltese SAR zone but just 38 nautical miles from Lampedusa. At 9.10 pm we alerted the Maltese and Italian Coastguards and passed on all the information. At 10.14 pm we received new GPS coordinates which we immediately passed on to the authorities. At 1.11 am on the following day the Italian Coastguard confirmed that the travellers had called them directly and that a rescue operation had been launched, however at 2.45 am the travellers told us that there was still no rescue vessel in sight. They gave us an updated GPS position which we immediately passed on to Italian authorities. During the rest of the night we were no longer able to establish contact with the travellers. Fortunately, the next morning we received confirmation that the Italian coastguard had finally rescued the travellers.

Around 8.30 pm the same day our shift team was alerted to another boat in distress that had departed from Al Khums and was carrying 120 travellers. The travellers told us that their motor was no longer working and that they were in need of urgent rescue. After having obtained their GPS position at 9.35 pm we informed both the Italian Coastguard, the so-called Libyan Coastguard and the NGO vessel Ocean Viking which seemed to be in proximity of the boat in distress. We were later no longer able to establish connection with the travellers, but at 11.55 pm we were informed by the so-called Libyan coastguard that they had intercepted the boat and that the travellers had been brought back to Libya.