The Coast Guard was searching to see whether others might still be missing, the Merchant Marine Ministry said.

Coast Guard officials found the 31 men, all drenched, on a beach near Souda Bay after local residents called authorities to say they had seen people wandering on the beach in the early hours of Sunday. Three of the men were already dead, while many of the others — mostly Bangladeshis — were suffering from hypothermia, the ministry said.

Authorities were counting passengers on board two ships that docked earlier Sunday in Crete to determine whether the 31 had been among about 2,000 on board, and whether others were also missing. The ministry said no other ships had been in the area, and weather conditions had been good.

Ships have been ferrying thousands of evacuees from Libya to Crete in recent days. The latest arrivals were the Nissos Rhodes with 1,200 people on board, and the Ionian King with about 800 — most migrant workers fleeing the fighting in Libya between rebels seeking to topple the regime of Moammar Gadhafi.