11/08: Alarm Phone alerted to two boats in distress in the Aegean sea.

12.08.2018 / 18:29 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 11th of August 2018
Case name: 2018_08_11-AEG411
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to two boats on their way to Kos, one rescued to Greece, one to Turkey
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Saturday the 11th of August the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted to two boats in distress on their way from Turkey to Kos. One boat was rescued by the Greek coast guard and brought to Kos, whilst the other was rescued by the Turkish coast guard and returned to Turkey.

At 5.12am CEST we received a message from a contact person about a boat with 22 travellers, including four children, heading towards Kos. Their engine had stopped working. The contact person forwarded us their phone number and position. Communication with the boat was difficult as the connection was bad, but via the contact person we received their updated positions. At 5.25am we called the Greek coast guard and passed on the information we had. At 6am the contact person informed us that the travellers had arrived safely to Kos.

At 6.35am CEST we were alerted by a contact person to a group of 17 travellers, including six children and three women, on their way to Kos. The contact person forwarded us their position, showing that they were still close to the Turkish coast, and informed us that their engine was no longer working. We were not able to establish communication with the boat. At 7.20am we called the Turkish coast guard and pass on the information we had. At 9.30am we spoke to the Turkish coast guard again, and they confirmed that they had rescued the travellers.
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

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