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coastguard said the boat had left Tobruk, a port city in eastern Libya, on March 21, bound for Greece, the gateway for many migrants hoping for asylum in the European Union.

“During the journey, the passengers lost their bearings and remained at sea for six days without food or water,” the coastguard stated.

The Greek authorities have arrested two South Sudanese men, aged 19 and 22, believed to be the smugglers.

They are now under investigation for “illegal entry into the country” and “negligent homicide”.

The vessel carrying the group was 53 nautical miles south of Ierapetra, a town on southern Crete.

A coastguard spokesman told AFP that the craft had endured “unfavourable meteorological conditions” during their odyssey.

That, coupled with a shortage of food and water, had “led to the deaths,” the spokesman said.

The number of migrants who have died trying to reach EU soil more than doubled in the first two months of 2026, compared with last year, the EU border agency Frontex said earlier this month.

According to data from the International Organization for Migration, 559 people died in the Mediterranean during January and February, compared with 287 for the same period last year.

In a bid to stem the crossings, the European Parliament on Thursday endorsed a major tightening of EU migration policy and approved the concept of “return hubs”, designed to send migrants to non-EU third countries.

The proposals have been criticised by rights groups as inhumane.