Greek navy

A freighter with hundreds of migrants on board issued a distress signal on Dec. 30 while sailing northwest of the Greek island of Corfu, the Greek coastguard said.
      
A coastguard source said the Moldovan-flagged ship Blue Sky M had some 400 migrants on board and that a Greek navy frigate and a rescue helicopters had been dispatched to the area.
      

Around 700 migrants aboard a freighter that had been drifting in the Aegean Sea for two days began disembarking on the Greek island of Crete on Nov. 27, local officials said.
      
The migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, include "a lot of women and children", said Theodosis Kalantzakis, the mayor of Ierapetra.
      

Officials say a broken-down smuggling ship carrying 700 men, women and children trying to emigrate to Europe has been safely towed to just off the southern Greek island of Crete.

Authorities there are preparing to provide the migrants with temporary shelter.

Ships from Greece rushed to help after a crippled freighter crammed with hundreds of migrants floundered for hours Tuesday in gale-force winds and high waves in the Mediterranean Sea, officials said.

A cargo vessel allegedly carrying 500 to 700 undocumented migrants was discovered adrift off the southeast coast of Crete on Tuesday, Kathimerini understands. According to initial reports, the Kiribati-flagged boat was stranded due to mechanical failure.

Greece will send a frigate and a submarine to the eastern Mediterranean region under its UN and NATO obligations, Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos has said.

Venizelos, who is also deputy prime minister, made the statement on Wednesday after a meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia.

Police officers on Friday arrested a Greek navy officer on charges of trading in illicit alcohol on the Egnatia Highway outside the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

By Derek Gatopoulos

A Greek navy frigate carrying embassy staff and nearly 200 people from Greece, China and other countries evacuated from the conflict in Libya returned early Saturday to a port near Athens.

Passengers on the frigate Salamis described a deteriorating security situation in the Libyan capital Tripoli, with frequent power and water cuts.

The testimony of Spyros Travlos, a former senior Defense Ministry official, in connection to a scandal which erupted over German submarine purchases, has been postponed for July 11 after he asked for more time to prepare his defense.

File photo

A rescue operation is underway northwest of Crete after a vessel thought to be carrying around 400 irregular immigrants issued a distress call.

Two cargo ships and a US navy vessel are heading towards the boat. A coast guard vessel and one from the Greek navy also sailed from Piraeus to help rescue the migrants.