Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 5th of June 2019
Case name: 2019_06_05-CM167
Situation: Two boats departing from Libya. One boat with 75 travellers was finally rescued by Maltese coastguards and the other boat was rescued by a cargo ship and the travelers taken to Italy.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Wednesday the 5th of June we were alerted to two boats in distress in the Central Mediterranean. The first boat, carrying 75 travellers was rescued by Maltese coastguards. The second boat was rescued on the following day by a cargo ship, Asso Veniticinque (25), the travellers were eventually disembarked in Pozzallo, Italy.

In the early morning of Wednesday the 5th of June, the Alarm Phone was called by a boat in distress carrying 75 travellers. After having received GPS coordinates our shift team immediately alerted Maltese coast guards at 6.12 am CEST. At 6.33 Maltese coastguards informed us that they had send an aerial asset to search and that a rescue boat was also in the area. During the following three hours Maltese coastguards refused to give us information on whether they had spotted the boat. At 09.25 am we received another call from the travelers, they informed us that they could not see neither an airplane nor a boat, they were very tired and thirsty as they had no more drinking water. Water had also started entering the boat. At 10.00 am we received a new GPS position, we immediately passed on the information to the coastguards. At 11.44 am our shift team called Maltese coastguards who again refused to give us information on the rescue operation. For the following two hours Maltese coastguards did not pick up our calls. At 1.55 pm we discovered from the media that Maltese coastguards had rescued 75 travellers. At 5.30 pm the coastguards confirmed that they had rescued the boat.

At 5.15 pm CEST on the same day we were called by a boat in distress carrying 50 travellers. The connection was bad and we were unable to receive their GPS position. One hour later we were able to establish better connection, we advised the travellers to call Italian coastguards as they would also be able to locate their position. At 6.55 pm the travellers told us that they had alerted Italian authorities and that they were able to give them their GPS position. As they tried to tell us their GPS position the line broke. At 7.12 pm we called Italian coastguards, they confirmed that the boat had called them and that they received the GPS position, however they refused to give us the position they had received. They also informed us that Maltese coastguards had been alerted. Our shift team then called Maltese authorities who confirmed that they were aware of the case. At 8.06 pm we managed to speak to the travellers again, the situation was tense and they desperately asked for help. They told us that they had seen a helicopter and a white ship nearby. At 8.38 pm Italian coastguards informed us that the Maltese coastguard was coordinating a Search and Rescue operation. We then called the Maltese coastguard, but they did not give us any further information. Two hours later, we received a new GPS position from the boat, in the Maltese SAR zone. We passed on this information to Maltese coastguards. During the night we tried several times to call the boat, but connection was always bad and it was therefore difficult to get further information on the boat. In the early morning of the following day (6th of June) we understood from the travellers that the boat was black with a green stripe at the nose of the boat, and that there was also a white rope. The travellers also told us that a lot of water was entering the boat. We immediately passed this information on to Maltese coastguards. At 6.30 am we received a new GPS position and passed it on to Maltese authorities. One hour later, they confirmed that they had received the new position. At 11.14am we realized that a cargo ship (Asso 25) passed exactly by the last GPS position we had from the boat. At this point we were no longer able to reach neither the travellers nor the Maltese coastguards. At 12.05 pm we reached Maltese coastguards, but they did not want to share any information with us. We were still not able to connect with the boat. As we could see that the cargo ship Asso 25 was still in the area of the last position we received from the boat, we called the company’s headquarters. However, they did not have information regarding a rescue operation. At 6.15 pm we called the Maltese coastguard again, but they were not able to give us any information. At 6.55 pm we were informed that the travellers had been rescued by a boat, presumably Asso 25. At 00.20am we read on news outlets that Asso 25 had rescued 62 persons. In the morning of the following day (7th of June) we learned from the news that the travellers would be disembarked in Pozzallo, Italy.