In an unusually busy weekend for illegal migrant crossings in the Mediterranean Sea, four commercial vessels had to change course to rescue 186 people.
Even though separate, all of the incidents occurred south of the Greek island of Crete. Two container ships, a suezmax tanker and a car carrier were involved in the rescue missions.
The first rescue was on Friday, when the Hellenic Coastguard instructed the 4,504-teu Maersk Brownsville (built 2007) to assist 37 adult men and five minors on a boat in distress.
