The first boat from the Libyan port of Benghazi, the ferry Hellenic Spirit, reached Heraklion after 1200 GMT and was followed by the ferry Olympic champion, an AFP photographer reported.

The ferries brought over nearly 4,400 Chinese nationals and scores of evacuees from European countries, Thailand and Sri Lanka, local police said.

"We are generally OK, they are taking good care of us," said evacuee Jill Wang, a 24-year-old translator from the central Chinese city of Xi'an.

The Chinese citizens living in Libya work mainly in the oil, rail and telecoms sectors, state media reported, citing embassy staff in Tripoli.

A spokesman for China's embassy in Libya, Du Minghao, said dozens of Chinese citizens had been injured since the unrest broke out more than a week ago. Fifteen of them were hospitalised, the spokesman told the China Daily.

"I was working as an English translator for a construction company near Benghazi," Wang told AFP.

"There were some 2,500 Chinese there, working on housing projects. We did not go outside the compound, but others who did were robbed by gangs and some got injured. We were really scared and afraid that something worse would happen," she said.

The Chinese citizens, part of a migrant workforce of 33,000 living in Libya, will be temporarily housed in hotels, a local tourism official said as the Chinese ambassador to Athens affirmed that most are in good health.

Some 15,000 Chinese overall are to be evacuated from Libya through Greece.

"There are some 2,000 Chinese still left in the area of Benghazi. Our government will send ships to bring them back," Wang said.

"Most of the Chinese migrants are in good health," ambassador Luo Linqan said after a meeting with local officials on Crete.

The head of Crete's tourism operators Theodoros Mylonakis said 11 four- and five-star hotels with a total capacity of 6,000 rooms had been earmarked for their accommodation until they can be repatriated by plane.

Two other ferries that left Greece on Wednesday will be picking up more evacuees from Libyan ports this week.

Police on Crete said over 2,500 Britons are expected to arrive from Libya in the next few days.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Wednesday said Athens was ready to help all countries needing to pull out nationals from Libya.

"At this moment we are helping the Chinese to move out through Crete and we are ready to help any country that has similar problems," Papandreou said during a visit to Helsinki.

Greece has sought closer ties with China in recent years to bolster its flagging economy. A major Chinese investment is underway at the main Greek port of Piraeus and Beijing last year also offered to buy Greek state bonds.

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