Yahoo TV

STORY: The migrants, who appeared to be primarily male, were crammed onto the deck of the rusted vessel as it was towed to the port of Paleochora in southern Crete late on Tuesday, where officials made a headcount before transferring them to shelter in busses.

Coast guard officials said according to migrants' accounts there were some 400 to 500 people on board the old vessel, which was heading to Italy.

Greece has seen an increase in arrivals by sea in the last months and has undertaken several migrant rescues, often in unsettling weather conditions causing shipwrecks and loss of life.