Over 50 people, including 21 children, being in danger on a boat in the waters of the Aegean Sea, were rescued by the MAY 1102 Coast Guard maritime patrol crew, during their Frontex mission in Greece, within the Common Maritime Operation "EPN POSEIDON SEA”.
The rescued persons, Syrian citizens, Iraqis, Algerians and Kuwait were transported to the Port of Chios and handed over safely to the Greek authorities for further procedures. Wednesday, 8th of February 2007, around 10.30, MAY 1102 crew, during the surveillance mission of maritime external borders of the European Union within the Joint Operation "EPN POSEIDON SEA" in Greece, coordinated by FRONTEX, noted in the Aegean Greek territorial waters, a pneumatic motor boat, overloaded with people. Immediately, the Romanian border guards intervened, according to the legal procedures, to rescue people in distress. After assessing the situation (overcrowded craft, the risk of sinking, and the fear for people to come into hypothermic shock), supported by a helicopter of the Greek Coast Guard, the border guards have transhipped 52 people aboard the Guard Coast. Rescued persons - 18 men, 13 women and 21 children - declared they came from Syria, Iraq, Algeria and Kuwait.
The border guards have provided assistance and food, and a few hours later, they disembarked in the port of Chios and were handed over to the Greek authorities for further procedures (healthcare, identification, registration, fingerprinting, etc). We remind that, beginning 1st of January 2017, during 4 months, the MAI 1102 patrolling ship within the Coast Guard, with a crew of 23 border guards on board, has been carrying out surveillance of the external maritime borders of the European Union in the Aegean Sea.
Since the beginning of their mission in Greece, the Romanian border guards saved, individually and in cooperation with the local police in Chios, Port Police and Ashore Frontex teams, 337 people who had arrived in the Greek territorial waters, aboard small boats.
