Lebanese baseline — Decree 4810/1966
The shore and the sea up to the highest winter wave line are public maritime domain. Public access and swimming are the baseline right any corridor must protect.
Decree 4810/1966 — Lebanese public maritime domainEmergency
Sea emergency on the Lebanese coast
Call first. Report afterwards.
If someone is in danger in the water right now, stop reading and call for help. This page is a short checklist for the first minutes, and a route to the cited contact details for Lebanon's rescue and maritime authorities. Safe Sea Lebanon is a civic campaign — we are not an emergency service and we cannot dispatch help.
First minutes: what to do
Lebanese law
Shout for help and get more eyes on the person — someone must keep watching them and pointing, without looking away. Call the emergency services and stay on the line. Throw something that floats: a ring, a cooler box, an empty jerrycan, a board. Do not swim out unless you are trained and have flotation with you; most second casualties are rescuers. If craft are running nearby, wave them down and get them to stop their engines before anyone approaches the person in the water.
What to say on the call
Lebanese law
Where you are — the town, the beach name, the nearest landmark or road access, and a dropped pin if you can send one. How many people are in the water and how long they have been there. Whether boats or jet skis are involved. Whether anyone is unconscious or bleeding. Then keep the line open and send someone to the road to flag the ambulance in.
Afterwards: report it
Lebanese law
Once everyone is safe, a report helps the next swimmer. Note the time, the exact spot, the sea state and anything you saw about craft behaviour, and keep any photo or video unedited. Reports are moderated before publication, personal details stay private, and no operator or individual is publicly blamed without evidence.
Sources
Safe speed and lookout — COLREGs Rules 5 and 6
The international collision regulations require a proper lookout at all times and a safe speed for the visibility, traffic and proximity of navigational hazards — which includes people in the water.
IMO — Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG)Questions
- Which number do I call for a drowning in Lebanon?
- Use the authority directory on this site: every number there carries the official page it was read from and the date it was last checked, so you are not dialling a number we could not verify.
- Can Safe Sea Lebanon send help?
- No. We are a civic campaign documenting incidents and pushing for enforceable coastal safety rules. Emergency response is the job of the official services listed in the authority directory.