Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 20th of February 2016

Case name: 2016_02_20-AEG213
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 6 distress cases in the Aegean - Lesvos, Farmakonisi and Samos
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Saturday, the 20th of February 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 6 cases of distress in the Aegean Sea, near Lesvos, Samos and Farmakonisi. In all cases the rescue /safe arrival of the travellers could be confirmed. In two cases the Turkish Coastguard and in two cases the Greek Coastguard ensured the rescue. In one case, a boat of Médecins sans Frontières and another rescue team were said to have rescued. One boat arrived in Lesvos without any assistance.

Case 1: At 4:02am, we received an alert about around 45 travellers in distress on the way to Mytilene/Lesvos. We got in touch with the travellers via WhatsApp and they told us that they were on a rubber boat, and that water was entering the boat. As the boat was in Turkish territorial waters, we called the Turkish Coastguard. Several other persons called us about the same boat. At 6.25am the person, who had first contacted us about the case, told us that the people were safely back in Turkey.

Case 2: At 7.54am, a Facebook alert reached us about a boat east of Lesvos carrying about 60 persons with at least 20 children. The contact person told us that the waves were extremely high and that the travellers were not wearing lifejackets. At 8.44am, we called the Greek Coastguard. They told us that they were dealing with several cases at the same time, but would look out for 'our' boat. At 9.05am our contact person confirmed via Facebook that the Greek Coastguard had rescued the travellers.

Case 3: At 9.31am, we were alerted to a boat carrying 35 persons (10 children) on the way to Samos. Contact with the boat had been lost. At 9.47am, we informed the Greek Coastguard about the case. At 9.52am we called the Coastguard again, to tell them that our contact person had told us that the engine of the boat was not working. The Coastguard said that they had a boat in the area of the travellers, but could not see them. At 10am, we reached the travellers. Since the connection was really bad, we communicated via WhatsApp, telling them that the Coastguard was looking for them. At 10.16am, the travellers called us from, explaining that they saw a big Swedish boat in vicinity. However, the boat did not come to help them. On Marinetraffic we could indeed detect two (very small) Swedish boats near Samos, one really close to the travellers. At 10.28am the travellers confirmed to us that they were safe. Our contact person, who was not on the boat told us that it was not the Coastguard, but Médecins sans Frontières and another rescue team, who saved them.

Case 4: At 9:44am, a contact person informed us via Facebook about 60 travellers on the way to Samos, who had run out of fuel. Moreover, the sea was rough and the boat overcrowded. Just before 10am, we informed the Greek Coastguard. They had not heard about the boat and promised to send a rescue team. At 11.15am, the Greek Coastguard confirmed to us that all boats around Samos had been rescued. Our Facebook contact confirmed this information.

Case 5: At 8:18pm, we received a distress call about a boat east of Lesvos, carrying 47 persons. We tried to call the boat several times, but did not reach them. At 8.25pm, we called the Greek Coast Guard, who was already informed about the boat. At 9pm, the travellers had arrived safely on Lesvos, without any assistance. We forwarded the news to the Coast Guard.

Case 6: The last distress call of the day reached us at 11:27pm. The person who called us was on a boat to Farmakonisi that had run out of fuel. They had started their trip two hours earlier in Didim. They were about 60 persons on board. We advised them to call 112 and asked them to send us their GPS-position. At 11.39pm we called the Turkish Coast Guard, because the boat was still in Turkish territorial waters according to the position they sent us. After this exchange we lost contact with the travellers and also could not reach the Coastguard anymore. At 2:04 am, we finally received a confirmation that the Turkish Coast Guard had rescued the travellers through a US-based relative of one of the people on board.