HERAKLION, October 2026 — A Frontex vessel carried out a Gavdos migrant rescue of 47 people on Tuesday 20 October, after about 70 others were saved south of Crete earlier that day.
Rescuers took the 47 safely to the port of Karave on Gavdos, a small island south of Crete, authorities said. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) of the Hellenic Coast Guard coordinated the operation.
Together, the two operations brought about 117 people to safety within hours. At the same time, local officials warned of rising arrivals in southern Crete.
Gavdos and Kaloi Limenes operations
Before the Gavdos migrant rescue, crews found about 70 people 52 nautical miles south-southeast of Kaloi Limenes, on Crete’s southern coast, the coast guard said.
A manned Frontex aircraft spotted their boat, and a vessel from the same force then picked them up, the coast guard said. The survivors were taken to the port of Kaloi Limenes.
Coordinators at the JRCC also handled that operation. In both cases, officials did not release the nationalities of the people rescued or any details of their health.
This Gavdos migrant rescue follows a busy month at sea. Greek City Times reported on 12 October that 241 people were rescued in four operations off Ierapetra and Gavdos.
In September, 235 people were rescued in four incidents off southern Crete.
Pressure on Heraklion
Giorgos Sfakianakis heads the Coast Guard staff union for eastern Crete. He told Heraklion city council on Monday 19 October that 517 migrants had arrived within 24 hours.
Southern Crete had recorded at least 11 arrivals in the days before the meeting, Sfakianakis said. Of those, six were south of Heraklion and five at Ierapetra.
Sfakianakis warned that more than one million migrants are waiting on the Libyan coast to set off for Crete. Greek City Times could not independently verify that figure.
The council met to discuss a Ministry of Migration and Asylum decision to open a reception facility for refugees and migrants at Athanatoi, near Heraklion.
Source: AMNA
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