Ionian Sea

In May, Corfiots "celebrated" the 154th anniversary of the day the United States of the Ionian Islands ceased to exist and became part of Greece. It was the first major territorial accretion to the fledgling state and it had been controversial in both Corfu and Athens. It still is.

A new passenger ferry route connecting the islands of the Ionian Sea for the first time will start operating on Wednesday, May 2, officials said Monday.

The ferry, called High Speed Azimut Joy Cruises, will operate three times a week and run until the end of October, officials added.

The local branches of conservation groups WWF and Greenpeace have called upon Greek lawmakers to vote against an Environment Ministry bill green-lighting hydrocarbon exploration and extraction in Block 2 of the Ionian Sea, as well as the onshore blocks Arta-Preveza, Aitoloacarnania, and Northwestern Peloponnese.

Greece's fires burnt 23,500 hectares of forest this season, slightly lower than the annual average of 27,500 over the past decade, according to an estimate from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) made public by the Greek branch of the World Wildlife Fund on Monday.

The government on Wednesday provided the locations of the three blocks - two off the coast of Crete and one in the Ionian Sea - that will be tendered for hydrocarbon exploration.

The block to be tendered for exploration in the Ionian Sea covers 6,671.13 square kilometers and is located north of the island of Cephalonia and west of Lefkada and Corfu islands.

Summer holidays in Greece is synonymous to the islands spread throughout the Ionian and Aegean Sea. However, Greece’s mainland coasts hide mesmerising locations which promise to offer unforgettable moments.

Video footage showing the dramatic rescue of a Polish tourist on the Ionian island of Kefalonia has emerged. The 45-year-old tourist was exploring the paths around the medieval fortress of Assos on the island of Kefalonia, when he found himself trapped in the ravines of the steep mountain.

A 56-year-old British tourist has died during an inflatable sofa ride on the Ionian island of Cephalonia, coast guard officials said Wednesday.

Initial reports suggest the 56-year-old died of a heart attack.

Two more passengers on the craft, also holidaymakers from Britain, were said to be in good health.

A 3.7 magnitude earthquake has was felt in the port town of Kyllini located on the Ionian Sea coast in the northwest Peloponnese. The epicentre was 15km northwest of the town, while the depth of the tremor was 10km.

A boat carrying 38 illegal migrants communicate a distress signal off the coast of the island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea, Saturday morning. According to sources, there are 13 children among the people on the boat who are in urgent need of medical attention. Ambulances have converged on the island’s port to take those in need of care to hospital.