Greek Coast Guard

Some 42 migrants were rescued 27 miles southwest of Crete island in the early hours of Thursday, while there is an ongoing search and rescue operation for three more.

At some point on Wednesday night, the migrants' boat sent a distress call to the Italian authorities, who then informed Greece. 

Two men accused of migrant smuggling were sent to pretrial detention after appearing before a prosecutor in Chania, Crete, on Monday.

They were among a group of 47 migrants, who had been rescued from a boat 15 miles outside Gavdos, Greece's southernmost island, on Wednesday.

The flow of migrants from the Egyptian and Libyan coasts to southern Crete and the small island of Gavdos has been increasing since the end of last summer, according to data of the Greek Coast Guard seen by Kathimerini.

Off the coast of Lesvos, the Bulgarian border ship "Balchik" has rescued 44 migrants, including 10 children, who were in distress. The Ministry of the Interior confirmed the successful rescue, which took place on Wednesday morning following a distress signal.

A shipwreck with 21 migrants occurred off the coast of Rhodes in Turkish territorial waters in the early hours of Saturday. 

Three people are missing, as reported by Greek state broadcaster ERT. 

The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 18 individuals. Joint efforts with the Greek Coast Guard are underway to locate the missing three.

Ships sailing under the Greek flag or owned by Greek interests operating in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden have been issued with an emergency warning to avoid Yemeni waters by the Greek Coast Guard.

The warning, issued on Saturday, follows the escalation in maritime attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on the world's main East-West trade route.

Athens is gearing up to implement a one-year visa-on-arrival program for Turkish citizens visiting the Aegean islands, Greek and Turkish local media has reported.

The move comes following collaborative efforts aimed at fostering improved ties between the historically strained neighbors.

The Greek Coast Guard said it rescued 14 migrants and recovered one body from Farmakonisi, a small island in the eastern Aegean, on Tuesday morning.

The rescuees, five men, six women and three children, were transferred to the migrant center on Leros and the body to the local hospital. 

The island's port authority is conducting the investigation. 

Greece's Coast Guard on Tuesday released a video showing the moment a boat carrying 22 migrants sank northeast of the island of Lesvos, where four people died on Monday.

A Coast Guard source said on Monday that the boat was spotted in Turkish territorial waters and the country's Coast Guard was notified without response.

The Greek Coast Guard rescued 53 migrants from an inflatable boat located off the coast of Lesvos in the eastern Aegean on Friday.

The Coast Guard said six of the people on the boat removed the engine and made holes in the dinghy when they saw the patrol vessel approaching.