“The coastguard team on mission in Greece detected a boat navigating in the direction of the area of the Molivos lighthouse, with evident signs of it being a boat overloaded with migrants,” the AMN said in a statement issued late on Monday.
According to the statement, the Portuguese immediately contacted the Greek coastguard, providing all the information about the vessel they had detected.
“This vessel was then accompanied by the Greek coastguard to the safe disembarkation of the migrants,” the AMN statement went on.
“On board the vessel were 33 migrants who then disembarked safely, watched over by the Greek coastguard.”
In its role as part of the European Union’s Operation Poseidon, Portuguese coastguards have detected and safely rescued from the Aegean Sea more than 4,000 migrants of various nationalities trying to get to Europe.
The operation is under the aegis of the EU’s Frontex agency and in support of the Greek coastguards, with a view to monitoring the EU’s maritime frontiers.