December 6th, 2025 - At Least 17 Migrants Killed in Greece’s Deadliest Shipwreck in Two Years

Greece's Coast Guard recovered the bodies of 17 migrants from a partially submerged boat off the coast of Crete on Saturday evening, marking the deadliest smuggling boat incident in Greece in more than two years. Two survivors were also rescued from the wreckage. The discovery follows a distress call made earlier that day by a Turkish cargo ship, which had spotted the half-sunken vessel approximately 30 nautical miles southwest of Crete.

Initially, the Coast Guard reported that 18 bodies had been recovered, but later revised the number to 17. The two survivors confirmed to officials that no one else was missing from the boat. The tragedy is the deadliest boat disaster in Greece since the Adriana disaster in June 2023, when a fishing trawler sank off southern Greece, claiming hundreds of lives.

The Greek authorities launched an extensive search after receiving the alert from the Turkish ship, deploying two Coast Guard vessels and a rescue helicopter, with additional support from a Frontex vessel and aircraft, along with three nearby ships. However, when rescuers arrived at the scene, they found that most of the migrants had already died.

The exact cause of the boat's sinking remains unclear. While initial reports from state media suggested that hypothermia might have contributed to the deaths rather than drowning, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs refrained from commenting, stating that the coroner would determine the cause of death. The identity of the migrants also remains uncertain, as no wallets or identification were found on the boat.

This tragic event took place amid a broader tightening of Greece’s migration policies. Following a surge in arrivals from Libya, the Greek government froze asylum applications over the summer and passed a law in September that imposes prison sentences on asylum seekers who remain in the country after their applications are rejected. While the number of arrivals to Crete from Libya initially decreased by nearly 50 percent following the crackdown, the number of migrants arriving has begun to rise again in recent days.

The ongoing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean remains a contentious issue, with Greece's policies reflecting growing concerns about the strain on resources and security in the region. Despite efforts to curb arrivals, the persistent challenges of migrant smuggling and the deadly risks faced by those attempting to cross continue to fuel debates about how best to address the situation.

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster) - Sensibility (noun, sen-suh-BIL-uh-tee) - Sensibility is a formal word often used in its plural form to refer someone’s personal or cultural approach to what they encounter, as in “the speaker made sure to tailor his speech to the sensibilities of his audience.” Sensibility can also be used for the kind of feelings a person tends to have in general, as well as for the ability to feel and understand emotions.

Example: Many older cartoons feel out of line with modern sensibilities.

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