Ionian Sea

Mainland and Crete affected from Sunday afternoon - Strong storms in the Ionian Sea and the western mainland from noon on Monday - Maps

Authorities in the southern Peloponnesian city of Kalamata have rescued 81 people stranded on a ship south of the mainland, on a route frequently used to take migrants illegally to Italy, local officials have said.

Municipal officials said the city had provided a temporary shelter for the people rescued, who identified themselves as coming from Egypt, Pakistan and Syria.

Greece's Coast Guard rescued 22 migrants (12 men, four women, three boys and a girl) from a sailboat that was sailing off the coast of Rhodes, in the eastern Aegean, late on Sunday, authorities said.

A rescue operation is underway to assist dozens of migrants on a sailboat reported in trouble off the southern coast of Greece, authorities said Friday, amid a rise in migration to the Mediterranean country.

Wearing ancient Greek chlamys, NBA legend Magic Johnson and his wife, Cookie, partied with their friends on his boat off the coast of Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea. Magic's social media was filled with photos, advertising Greece and the ancient Greek kitsch that proves to be durable and timeless. 

The National Meteorological Service has issued a warning of wet and stormy weather expected in parts of western and northern Greece from Saturday afternoon to early Sunday, as the weather system "Petar" makes its way to the country's shores.

A fire broke out this morning on a ferry carrying 288 people on board, sailing from Greece to Italy, the Greek Coast Guard said, world news agencies and Greek media reported.

The ship "Euroferi Olympia" sailed from the Greek port of Igoumenitsa to the Italian city of Brindisi. The fire broke out off the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea.

Greek Kathimerini reports that the passengers have been evacuated and are already in lifeboats, and for now there is no information on whether anyone was injured.
The Coast Guard stated that there were 237 passengers and 51 crew members on board.

The NBA legend is on a Greek island hopping holiday in the Ionian Sea

Authorities believe that an Iraqi Kurd who operates a store in Athens is a major migrant trafficker engaged, mainly, in getting Turks to western Europe, either directly or via Greece.

The trafficker's latest suspected operation, the departure of sailboat La Victoire from the Ionian island of Lefkada, was prevented by the coast guard on November 13.