Athens: Greek authorities recovered 12 bodies from a boat carrying migrants found sailing south of the island of Crete early Monday, while a passing Moroccan-flagged cargo ship rescued 18 people from the same vessel, the coast guard said.
No further information was immediately available about the identities of the 12 people who died or the circumstances of their deaths. Greece's coast guard said the boat was found about 15 nautical miles (28 km) south of Crete on Monday morning.
Two other boats, one carrying about 47 people and the other about 40, were also found sailing south of Crete.
The first was spotted by an aircraft belonging to the European Union's border agency, Frontex, while the second was detected by a Frontex drone, the coast guard said.
The agency added that those on board both boats were rescued by Frontex and were being taken to a port on Crete's southern coast.
Greece is one of the main entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
In recent months, thousands have been making the perilous sea crossing from North Africa, usually from Libya to Crete. Others make the much shorter but often equally dangerous crossing from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, often in unseaworthy inflatable dinghies or other small boats.
Last month, 12 people, including an infant, died when two boats they were travelling in from Turkey to the islands of Lesbos and Samos capsized.
Frontex said in October that the eastern Mediterranean was the busiest route for migrants attempting to enter the 27-nation EU, although irregular border crossings into the bloc were down by a third so far this year.
The agency said around 31,800 crossings were recorded in the first three quarters of 2026, a fall of 15 per cent compared with the same period last year. The corridor from Libya to Crete was the busiest section of the route, ahead of the eastern Aegean islands and the land border with Turkey.