15/09: one group stranded on Symi/Greece, one boat in distress rescued to Greece

16.09.2019 / 14:59 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 15th of September 2019
Case name: 2019_09_15-AEG574
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to migrant groups in distress in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Sunday the 15th of September 2019, the Alarm Phone was alerted to two boats in distress in the Aegean region. The first group of 34 people stranded on Symi Island and needed help. The second group of about 30 people was in distress at sea near Symi Island and was later rescued to Greece.

Case 1: At 1.25am CEST, a contact person informed us about a boat in distress near the Greek island of Symi. We alerted the Greek coastguards at 1.40am and they knew already about this boat in distress. We first spoke to the people on board at 1.45am. At 2.20am, they sent us an updated location, showing them on land – they had independently arrived.

Case 2: At 2:44am, we were alerted to another boat in distress near Symi with around 30 travellers on board, including 10 children. We alerted the authorities in Symi at 3am as well as the Greek authorities in Piraeus. At 4:09am the Greek coastguard confirmsd the rescue and shortly after also the travellers confirmed their rescue.

Credibility:

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