FIRST PERSON: Witnessing rescue off Greek coast (updated)

Almost 80 migrants, who departed from Tobruk, Libya on a decrepit fishing boat, drowned in the Mediterranean Sea off the Greek coast on Wednesday. CNN reported that the overloaded boat sank, and that many more fatalities are expected.

I am currently a passenger aboard the cruise ship Celebrity Beyond, carrying some 3000 passengers and 1500 crew, approaching Naples on the Mediterranean Sea. Since we were in the vicinity of the sinking, our captain diverted us to assist in the rescue operation.

All told across all vessels responding, 104 migrants — all men — were rescued from the water, and transferred to the city of Kalamata.

Women and children were also on board, but had been confined below deck. The Greek Coast Guard said the search and retrieval operation would continue through Thursday.

We heard helicopters overhead on Wednesday morning, and saw clusters of ships off our starboard side. Celebrity Beyond had come to a dead stop, and we heard that the ship had dispatched its emergency rescue boat to assist with the rescue, and the recovery of bodies in the water.

It is unclear how many people were on board the boat, but rescued passengers said that as many as 750 migrants could have been on board. The intended destination of the ill-fated vessel was Italy.

The first alarm was received by radio on Tuesday afternoon from the sinking vessel. According to reports, those on board said the captain left the boat three hours after the first distress call was made. A merchant vessel is said to have provided the boat with water at around 8 PM on Tuesday evening.

The refugees were apparently from Egypt, Syria, and Pakistan, according to reporting by Reuters. The sinking occurred about 80 kilometres southwest of the Greek coastal town of Pylos. Greece’s government has declared three days of national mourning. The Greek Coast Guard had reportedly approached the vessel and offered help, but the migrants refused assistance.

The number of undocumented refugees from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, desperate for entry into countries of the European Union, has been skyrocketing in 2023. Some 36,000 migrants arrived in the Mediterranean region of Europe from January to March this year, nearly twice the number compared with the same period in 2022, according to figures from the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency.