01/01: 2 boats in distress near the Greek island of Lesvos

02.01.2016 / 15:41 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 1st of January 2016

Case name: 2016_01_01-AEG173
Situation: 2 boats in distress near the Greek island of Lesvos
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Friday the 1st of January 2016 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 2 boats in distress on their way to the Greek island of Lesvos. While one boat reached the island independently, the other boat was rescued by the Turkish coast guard and transferred back to Turkey.

At 11.20pm the Alarm Phone was informed via WhatsApp about a boat in distress east of Lesvos and received its GPS position and the phone number of the travellers on board (case 1). After several unsuccessful attempts we reached the travellers at 11.40pm. They were panicking and communication was difficult, due to language problems. At 11.43pm we called the Greek coastguard and learned that they were aware of this boat in distress and had already sent a rescue vessel to the position in question. Afterwards we also sent an e-mail to the Greek coastguard and to the UNHCR Greece. In the meantime, several further contact persons alerted us to this particular boat in distress. In a phone call with the Greek coastguard at 0.30am we learned that they were not able to find the boat in distress at the given position. Thus we called the travellers again at 0.34am. This time we were able to talk to an English-speaking traveller and he told us that they had already reached the Greek island of Lesvos. They had managed to arrive independently on the island and were safe.

In the same night, at 11.50pm, another contact person forwarded a distress call of a sinking boat to us, which was still close to the Turkish coast (case 2). The contact person had already alerted the Turkish coastguard, but asked us to also do so. Around midnight we talked to the Turkish coastguard, who was indeed aware of this boat in distress. At 0.45am we called them again and asked for news. We were told that the coastguard had talked to the travellers and had learned that the travellers had reached the Turkish coast again and were not in need of help anymore. However, at 0.55am, our contact person told us that the travellers were not back at the Turkish coast, but had stranded on a tiny rocky island, precisely at the position he had forwarded to us. Thus, we called the Turkish coastguard again at 1.10am and explained the situation. They promised to send a rescue vessel that would pick up the travellers from the rocky island. At around 1.20am we received further alerts to this case and were provided with photos and several other phone numbers of the travellers in distress. We learned that their situation was very bad and that they were not able to wait to be picked up until the next morning, as the night was very cold and their clothes wet. At 2am we called the Turkish coastguard again and stressed the urgency of the situation. They assured us that two of their vessels were in the region, in order to transfer the travellers to Turkish mainland. However, in the following hours, our contact persons repeatedly told us that the travellers were still waiting and no rescue vessel had arrived. In several phone calls to the Turkish coastguard at 3.20am, 4.35am and finally at 7.20am we were first told that they were conducting another large rescue operation in this area and that the travellers have to wait. Afterwards, we were informed that the coastguard was not able to land on the rocky island, as this was too dangerous. Thus, in the last call, they told us that the travellers have to be evacuated form the island with the help of a helicopter. This helicopter had started in Izmir/Turkey at about 7am. At 9am we called the coastguard again and learned that they had rescued all travellers, about 40 in total. We informed all involved contact persons about the successful rescue operation, and finally, at about 4pm, we also reached the travellers directly and received confirmation that they had been brought back to Turkey and that they were safe.
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