Milos Ship Sinking: All 17 passengers rescued 'safe and well' after British boat sank off coast of Greece

All 17 passengers aboard a sinking British-flagged vessel off the Greek coast have been rescued and are ‘safe and well’, according to the Hellenic Coast Guard.

A British-flagged vessel sunk off the Greek island Milos with 17 passengers in danger on Thursday morning.

It is understood the incident took place 15 miles northwest of Milos – located north of the popular tourist island of Crete.

A large search and rescue operation was launched however the Hellenic coast guard has now confirmed all those aboard been rescued.

The rescue operation was held by the high-speed ferry Sea Jet 2, a freighter and a launch boat with a coast guard officer on board.

All the passengers are expected to be transferred to the port of Milos, according to the Athens News Agency.

It is not yet known what caused the boat to sink or if any of the passengers are British.

According to the Associated Press, the vessel was a 30-metre-long yacht.

The sunken vessel is believed to be located 15 miles northwest of Milos – located north of Crete.

The coast guard said it was not able to verify the nationalities of the passengers on board the boat.

The mayor of Milos, Manolis Mikelis previously told SKAI: “We are trying to get people. There is also a helicopter near the area.

"I know that boats have also left Milos, we have no idea if they were Greeks or foreigners.”

The spokesman of the Coast Guard, Nikolaos Kokkalas, said that great efforts were made to rescue the shipwrecked who have fallen into the sea.

The rescue operation was held by the high-speed ferry Sea Jet 2, a freighter and a launch boat on which was on board a coast guard officer. All the passengers of the yacht are expected to be transferred to the port of Milos.

More to follow.

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