Three men believed to have been the captains of boats carrying 33 migrants, were remanded in Famagusta district court for seven days on Friday.

Police said it had secured testimonies that the three, aged 47, 35 and 21 had been sterring the boat that brought the migrants off the shores of Cape Greco.

The migrants were taken to the Pournara reception facility in Kokkinotrimithia.

According to the police, the coast guard was alerted at 7.30pm on Thursday, when the vessel was detected by radar 12 nautical miles southeast of Cape Greco.

The boat was found to be transporting 16 migrants, 10 men, two women and four minors. The passengers were safely transported to the Golden Coast fishing shelter in Paralimni by 9.30pm and from there on to the Pournara.

During investigation, testimony emerged against the 21-year-old, that he had operated the boat.

The remaining two men aged 47 and 35, were on board another boat that was detected at 1:40am on Thursday morning, eight nautical miles off Cape Greco, moving towards the republic.

The authorities approached the six-meter-long black fiberglass vessel which had set off from Tartus, the second largest port city in Syria, on Wednesday night around 11pm.

There were 17 people on board, of which there were 13 men, two women and two children.

They said they had each paid $3,000 – $3,500 dollars to an unknown person for the journey.

Since May 9, a total of 19 boats transporting 452 asylum seekers reached Cyprus.