In what must be one of the largest ever such arrivals in the area, 430 immigrants were towed into the old harbour at Palaiochora at midday on Tuesday, aboard a rusted steel trawler of 30 metres length which had lost steerage, causing the occupants of the vessel to send out a distress signal. Some 300 of the passengers were Syrians, the rest being from Egypt and Palestine, among them 50 women and 30 children. The exact numbers have yet to be established.

The overloaded ship had departed from a port in Libya with Italy as its intended destination and had been at sea for four days. Its steering having failed, it had put out a distress signal in the area south of Crete where winds of 7 Beaufort were blowing. Commercial ships sailing nearby, as well as the frigate Kanaris which had been at Souda over the weekend, went to its aid, and with the help of Coastguard vessels it was towed into Palaiochora, arriving around 2.00 pm.

On Tuesday some 150 people were transferred by bus to the ANENDYK ferry Samaria in the tourist harbour to spend the night, there being insufficient accommodation in the town. However the remainder stated that they wished to remain on the trawler, asking for the steering to be repaired so that they could continue their voyage to Italy. Talking to journalists from the ship earlier, they had said: “We thank you for your help. Thank you for saving us, but we want to go on to Italy.”

Talking to journalists, the mayor of Kandanos-Selino Antonis Perrakis said that there was no hall big enough to house so many people in the area, but the municipality was helping by providing water, croissants and blankets, while it was preparing a meal of chicken and rice for them for Tuesday evening.

Help was also being provided by volunteers from the Civil Protection Service of Selino and the Kissamos Red Cross. Doctors, nurses and the ambulance of the Kandanos Health Centre were also on hand, together with the Centre’s Director Eftychis Aligizakis, providing first aid to three of the immigrants who were unwell. Another two – a diabetic and one with a head wound, were taken to the Chania Hospital for treatment. “It’s the first time we have had such a large number of immigrants, we never had more than 100 people before,” Mr Aligizakis said.

“The ship’s engines were working but the steering was not. They were originally going to take it to Palaiochora Harbour, but since the entrance is narrow and there was a heavy sea, the Coastguard was right to take them to the Skala [the old harbour], since with so many people on board there was a danger of it hitting the reefs in the channel and the people drowning inside the harbour,” said Antonis Bitsakis who had accompanied the trawler with his vessel Thalassolykos [Sea Wolf].

In a statement, the Shipping minister Giannis Plakiotakis said: “The Coastguard has once more showed not only the level of its capacities, but that it sees the saving of human lives as a priority of its mission.” He congratulated the Coastguard for planning and executing the rescue operation under adverse weather conditions.

On Wednesday, UNHCR stated that it was taking over the feeding of the refugees as from that day, and the necessary equipment was being transported to Palaiochora for that purpose. Also on Wednesday it was reported that the diabetic, a youth of 15 years, had been taken to the children’s unit of PAGNI in Heraklion for treatment.

More photos and a video of the immigrants can be seen on the Haniotika Nea website.