Patrol boat

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.

Police on the Dodecanese island of Kos arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion of smuggling migrants on a speedboat on Christmas Day.

When a coast guard patrol boat pursued the vessel after spotting it off the northeast of the island, the skipper refused to stop the speedboat and attempted to ram the patrol boat.

The coast guard said on Thursday that a speedboat carrying 25 foreign nationals made repeated attempts to ram one of its patrol boats during a pursuit near the southeast Aegean island of Kos.  

Greek authorities on Saturday rescued nearly 60 migrants in inflatable dinghies trying to cross from Turkey to the nearby eastern Aegean Sea islands in two separate incidents, the coast guard said.

In recent weeks Greece has seen a rise in such arrivals, mostly in small unseaworthy boats provided by smugglers.

The body of a 42-year-old surfer, whose traces were lost in the sea area of Chrysi Akti (Golden Coast) in Paros on Tuesday, was found by a coast guard boat near the beach on Friday.

According to reports, the 42-year-old had gone out with a friend to surf. However, his friend at some point lost track of him and returned to report him missing.

The Coast Guard says it has rescued 48 migrants attempting to enter the country illegally on an inflatable boat.

"In the morning hours (Sunday), a Coast Guard patrol vessel on a scheduled patrol, located in the sea area of Agrielia, Lesvos, one inflatable boat, in which a large number of people were on board.

Greek authorities said Friday they safely evacuated dozens of migrants from a sailboat reported in trouble off the southern coast of Greece, amid a rise in migration to the Mediterranean country.

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.

The search-and-rescue operation to find people still missing after a fishing trawler carrying migrants capsized in international waters off the coast of the Peloponnese continued for seventh consecutive day on Tuesday. 

The Hellenic Coast Guard released a statement on Monday rejecting claims made by domestic and international media that the fishing vessel that was shipwrecked last week off the coast of the Peloponnese was stationary for several hours before capsizing.