More than 150 Ukrainian sailors have been detained, arrested or already been sentenced for illegal activities, and there are 186 Ukrainian sailors in remand in Greece, Serhiy Pohoreltsev, Directorate General for Consular Service of Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, has said.

"Unfortunately, the number of cases when our sailors are taken prisoner by pirates, when they are used by criminal gangs to transport illegal immigrants, smuggling, etc. has increased recently. The number of our sailors who are detained, arrested or have already been sentenced is high: more than 150 people in Italy, 186 in Greece," he told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.

Pohoreltsev said 64 sailors were released and returned home in 2018.

He added offices for helping sailors had been opened at the trade union of Ukrainian maritime transportation workers in Odesa, Izmail, and Kherson.