Coast Guard rescues 36 migrants from boat south of Ierapetra

A total of 36 migrants were located and rescued in a few hours in a new incident south of Ierapetra, under the coordination of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC), the Hellenic Coast Guard said.

According to the Coast Guard, in the early hours of the morning, a cargo ship flying the flag of the Marshall Islands spotted around 36 migrants aboard a small boat in a sea area 40 nautical miles south of Ierapetra.

The people on board were picked up by a Coast Guard patrol vessel and transferred to the port of Ierapetra. Northwesterly winds of force 4 on the Beaufort scale were blowing in the area at the time.

The rescue is the latest in a series of similar incidents recorded off the southern coast of Crete in recent weeks. Earlier cases include the rescue of 52 people from a boat south of Crete and a boat carrying 56 migrants that reached the Kapetaniana coast in Gortyna.