Three consecutive migrant search-and-rescue operations took place in the early hours of Wednesday in the sea area southwest of Ierapetra, Crete, under the coordination of the Hellenic Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC).
Authorities recovered around 218 migrants from three boats during the operations, according to the Hellenic Coast Guard.
In the first operation, a FRONTEX unmanned aircraft spotted a boat carrying around 71 foreign nationals approximately 15 nautical miles southwest of Ierapetra. A Malta-flagged tanker sailing nearby rescued the passengers and is transporting them to the port of Kali Limenes.
In the same wider sea area, also around 15 nautical miles southwest of Ierapetra, authorities located a second boat carrying approximately 70 people. A Hellenic Coast Guard patrol vessel rescued the passengers and is taking them to Kali Limenes.
A short time later, authorities launched a third operation around 50 nautical miles south of Ierapetra after a FRONTEX unmanned aircraft detected another boat carrying approximately 77 foreign nationals.
A Denmark-flagged cargo vessel sailing nearby joined the operation, rescued the passengers and is transporting them to the port of Ierapetra.
