Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 20th of September 2019
Case name: 2019_09_20-CM194
Situation: One boat intercepted back to Libya and one boat saved by the Maltese Coastguard.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Friday the 20th of September the Alarm Phone was alerted to two boats in distress; the first one carrying 88 travellers was intercepted back to Libya by the so-called Libyan Coastguard and the second boat, carrying 80 travellers was rescued after some delay by the Maltese coastguard.

At 1.45 am CEST on Friday the 20th of September, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a boat in distress that had left the previous night from Al Khoms carrying 88 travellers. We managed to establish contact with the boat around 2.15 am; however, as the connection was bad, and communication was difficult it took us some time to clarify the GPS position. Once we clarified the position, we called Maltese authorities at around 6.20 am to inform them about the distress case. Our shift teams also sent an email to Italian and Libyan authorities. After having completely lost contact with the travellers in the late afternoon, we were informed that the boat had been intercepted by the so-called Libyan Coastguard.

Around 4.20 am on the same night we were alerted to a boat in distress carrying 80 travellers. We managed to establish contact with the travellers at around 4.40 am, and they gave us a GPS position which, however, was unclear. After taking some time to verify the position, due to connection and communication difficulties, at 6.22 am we forwarded the distress case to the Maltese authorities. After having lost contact with the boat at 09.27 am we called the Maltease Coastguard. An officer told us that they had many ongoing cases and that he did not have time to give us information on our specific case. At 9.39 am we were able to re-establish contact with the travellers and they told us that the engine was no longer working. A few minutes later they sent us an updated GPS position, however the format was unclear. At 11.43 am the travellers informed us that they had been called directly by the Maltese Coastguard who had told them that they would send a rescue vessel. During this phone call, the travellers were also able to clarify their GPS position. Our shift team then called Maltese authorities to pass on the new position and ask for confirmation on the rescue operation, the Maltese officer took the updated position but did not share any information concerning the rescue operation. At 12.13 pm we also sent an email to the Maltese authorities. At 1.40 pm we were informed that Moonbird had spotted the boat but could not see any Maltese vessel in proximity. Moonbird confirmed that the motor of the boat was no longer working and that the travellers were not wearing life-vests and were in need of urgent assistance. During the rest of the afternoon our shift team was no longer able to establish contact with the travellers and the Maltese authorities did not want update us on the rescue situation. Finally, at 6.58 pm we were informed that the Maltese Coastguard had rescued the travellers.