Kali Limenes

Coast guard officers have rescued 52 migrants off the south of Crete after receiving a call for help through the emergency 112 number.

The migrants, who say they are citizens of Sudan and Egypt, were on an inflatable vessel in the sea south of the village of Kaloi Limenes in Iraklio prefecture.

A boat with 33 migrants on board was located by a cargo ship off the southern coast of Crete early Friday morning.

Twenty eight of the migrants, four of whom are minors, said they were Egyptian nationals. Passengers also included a family of four, made up of a pregnant woman and two children, who said they were from Syria.

A  merchant ship rescued 42 undocumented migrants early on Saturday after the boat they were traveling on experienced mehcanical failure, 35 nautical miles southwest of Crete, near Gavdos, Greece's southernmost island. 

A coast guard operation is underway south of the island of Crete Wednesday following the discovery of a sailing vessel carrying dozens of undocumented migrants.

According to reports, the boat is carrying 80 individuals on board. They are expected to be transported to either Kali Limenes in Iraklio or Agia Galini in Rethymno.

The Greek coast guard launched on Monday a search and rescue operation off the southern coast of Crete for a wooden boat with 45 refugees and migrants reportedly onboard.

According to the state-run news agency ANA-MPA, one of the passengers called the 112 emergency number and reported that the boat was in distress.