Ferries have resumed sailing to Greek islands for the first time in a week after the government used emergency powers to force striking seamen back to work.

Thousands of union-backed demonstrators converged on the country's largest port to protest at the order.

Trucks carrying food and other products were loaded onto ferries that set sail from the port of Piraeus. Six days of a strike by the seamen against austerity measures had left dozens of islands without any means of resupply.

The strikers returned to work after the government implemented a rarely- used civil mobilisation order for the second time in two weeks. The three-party coalition last used it to end an eight-day metro workers' strike.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.