A group of 49 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean Sea south of Crete after being spotted by a Dutch-flagged cargo ship on Monday.
The merchant vessel spotted the group during Monday afternoon roughly 20 nautical miles southeast of Ierapetra, a coastal town on the south of the Greek island.
Greece's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, known as EKSED, directed the maritime emergency operation once the alert was raised.
Officers aboard a patrol boat operated by the European Union border agency Frontex collected the 49 people from the location and began transporting them to the port of Ierapetra.
Local authorities reported northerly winds measuring force three on the Beaufort scale across the search area during the operation, providing relatively calm sea conditions.
Search and rescue coordination
The operation was managed directly by EKSED, which serves as Greece's national maritime rescue headquarters. Operated by the Hellenic Coast Guard from Piraeus, the centre coordinates emergency responses and vessel assistance throughout Greek territorial waters and international search zones.
Frontex, formally known as the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, maintains active sea and air assets in the eastern Mediterranean. The agency deploys patrol boats, surveillance aircraft and specialised personnel to assist national coast guards with border monitoring and search operations.
Maritime routes south of Crete
The waters off southern Crete form part of an increasingly monitored transit corridor in the central and eastern Mediterranean. Vessels travelling north from North African departure points must navigate open water before reaching European territory.
Ierapetra, where the 49 migrants were being brought ashore, is the southernmost town on the island of Crete and faces directly toward the Libyan Sea. The municipality contains commercial harbour facilities and local emergency services that frequently receive maritime arrivals in the regional unit of Lasithi.
Greek authorities have not released details regarding the nationalities or health status of the 49 individuals, nor the type of craft they were using before being sighted by the Dutch cargo vessel.
