Italy takes control of drifting migrant ship

FE Team | Published: January 03, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

ROME, Jan 2 (agencies): Italian authorities have taken control of a ship carrying 450 migrants, thought to be Syrian, that was abandoned by its crew off Italy coast.
The Italian coast guard said it was now heading to the port of Crotone after a rescue team managed to board the ship.
The Ezadeen, sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone, lost power in rough seas overnight off the south-east of Italy.
Almost 1,000 migrants were rescued from another ship found abandoned without any crew earlier in the week.
Italian Coast Guard Cmdr Filippo Marini told reporters that the vessel was being towed by an Icelandic ship that is part of the EU Frontex border control mission.
Children and pregnant women were among the migrants, most of who were believed to be Syrian, Mr Marini said.
He added that the 73-metre (240ft) Ezadeen was believed to have set sail from Turkey, although earlier reports suggested it was sailing from Cyprus.
The alarm was raised in a distress call from one of the migrants using the maritime radio on board, who told the Italian coast guard: "We're without crew, we're heading toward the Italian coast and we have no-one to steer."
Six coastguard officers were lowered from a helicopter onto the deck of the Ezadeen as it floated some 40 kilometres (25 miles) off Crotone on Italy's heel, the navy said.
It marked the second such drama in days for Italy, which is struggling with a record wave of migrants making the perilous journey to the south European country from North Africa and Turkey, after the navy on Wednesday stopped another crewless ship with hundreds of migrants on board.
Friday's rescue bid involved the 73-metre-long (240-foot-long) Sierra Leone-registered Ezadeen, which was meant to be travelling between Cyprus and the southern French port of Sete.
Prior to losing power, the almost 50-year-old ship had been moving at a brisk seven knots and had been spotted by a coastguard plane 80 miles offshore shortly after nightfall.
One of the people on board the Ezadeen was able to operate the ship's radio and informed the coastguard that the crew had jumped ship.