Rescue operation for 408 undocumented immigrants
A total of 408 undocumented migrants, among them 100 women and children, were on board a 32-meter-long old vessel that was located by the Greek Coastguard 65 nautical miles west of the southern Aegean island of Crete early on Monday.
The vessel had sent a distress signal late on Sunday that mobilized the Coastguards' Search and Rescue Center of Operations.
A freighter ship, a tanker and a US warship rushed to the region, responding to the SOS, and they were ordered to assist an open sea vessel of the Coastguard that had set sail from Piraeus, as well as a Hellenic Navy frigate from the island of Paros. Another freighter and a Coastguard helicopter are also in the region according to ANA-MPA
At noon on Monday, several of the illegal migrants boarded a Greek-flagged tanker to be transported to the nearest port on the island of Crete.
Most likely, the undocumented migrants, the majority of them from Syria and Egypt, were destined for Italy.