More than half a dozen Coast Guard patrol boats and a helicopter chased a suspected migrant-smuggling speedboat half-way across the Aegean Sea on Friday before bringing it to bay off the deserted islet of Keros, authorities said.
A Coast Guard statement said that three men, four women and eight children from Syria were found on the vessel, as well as two men from Greece and Cyprus thought to have been in command of the boat.
The speedboat was first detected off the eastern Aegean Sea island of Chios, after entering from Turkish waters, and its master ignored repeated signals and calls to stop. Instead, the Coast Guard said, it sped off at about 50 knots for the central Aegean.
Seven patrol boats and a helicopter gave chase, and the vessel was finally forced to stop off Keros in the Cyclades. All people on board were taken to the nearby island of Naxos pending an investigation.
The speedboat was confiscated.
