In the latest incident, according to ERT, a passing container ship spotted a boat about 15 nautical miles (about 28 km) southeast of Kaloi Limenes, a port on Crete's southern coast. A Greek Coast Guard vessel later rescued the 18 survivors and recovered 12 bodies. The identities of the deceased and the circumstances of their deaths were not immediately known.
In two other operations in the area, boats carrying about 47 and 40 migrants were also located by the European Union's border agency Frontex. Frontex vessels rescued all those aboard and were taking them to ports on Crete's southern coast, ERT reported.
The latest incidents followed another migrant boat emergency on Saturday, when 28 Sudanese migrants were rescued and one body was recovered from a boat in distress south of Crete. Seven more bodies were found inside the boat early Monday after severe weather initially hampered recovery efforts.
The incidents come amid a sharp rise in migrant arrivals on Crete, despite an overall decline in illegal border crossings into Greece.
According to the European Commission's European Annual Asylum and Migration Report 2026, released on Friday, illegal border crossings into Greece fell by 23 percent between July 2025 and June 2026 compared with the previous 12-month period.
However, arrivals on Crete surged by 105 percent to around 21,000, accounting for nearly half of all arrivals in Greece. The report said most migrants crossing along the Eastern Mediterranean route came from Libya and Turkey.