Greek authorities successfully carried out a large-scale search and rescue mission involving approximately 520 migrants who were found aboard a Bahamas-flagged fishing vessel stranded 17 nautical miles south of Gavdos Island. The operation, which lasted several hours, was coordinated by Greece’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC).

The mission began around 2:00 a.m. under challenging weather conditions, with winds reaching 6 on the Beaufort scale. The rescue involved two Frontex aircraft and four nearby ships, showcasing the high level of international and national coordination required for such a complex operation.

The rescued individuals were transferred onto a cargo vessel and a Greek Coast Guard offshore patrol ship, which transported them to the port of Chora Sfakion on Crete’s southern coast.

This operation is part of an escalating pattern of daily rescues near Gavdos, a small island off Crete, as Greece faces increasing pressure from rising migrant flows across the Mediterranean.

Just a day earlier, 67 migrants were rescued from a dinghy by a Liberia-flagged cargo ship, coordinated again by the JRCC. These individuals were later transferred to a Frontex vessel and brought ashore at the port of Agia Galini in the Rethymno region, where they received humanitarian assistance.

On Tuesday afternoon, another 45 migrants were rescued from a small boat by a Kuwait-flagged vessel, also south of Gavdos. They were transferred onto a rescue boat and brought to Chora Sfakion.

Local communities in Heraklion, Rethymno, and Chania are reportedly struggling to cope with the increasing number of arrivals, as temporary accommodation facilities are either overwhelmed or nonexistent. Most of the newly arrived migrants are men traveling from Libya, highlighting the central Mediterranean route as a persistent challenge for Greek authorities and European agencies alike.