At least 610 foreign nationals aboard small boats have been rescued since the early hours of Thursday in ten different search and rescue operations conducted in the sea area south of Crete and Gavdos.

According to the Hellenic Coast Guard, the operations are being coordinated by the Joint Search and Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC), while coast guard vessels participated alongside aerial assets and a FRONTEX vessel, as well as passing ships in some cases.

The migrants were safely transported in stages to the ports of Souda, Ierapetra, Kali Limenes, Agia Galini, and Gavdos, where registration and identification procedures by the competent authorities are ongoing.

The continuous arrivals of migration flows in recent hours have put the port authorities of Crete on high alert.