Bid to save second abandoned migrant ship off Italian coast

The Italian coast guard says a merchant ship with at least 400 migrants on board is heading for the Italian coast.

The Ezadeen, sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone, has no crew on board and has lost power in rough seas off the south-east of Italy.

The Icelandic coast guard confirmed to the BBC that one of its vessels was assisting in efforts to board the ship.

Almost 1,000 migrants were rescued from another ship found abandoned without any crew earlier in the week.

The Icelandic coast guard told the BBC that high seas and bad weather were making it difficult to board the 73-metre (240ft) Ezadeen, which is 65km (40 miles) off the south-eastern tip of Italy.

The Icelandic coast guard vessel Tyr is patrolling off the Italian coast as part of the EU Frontex border control mission.

The alarm was raised in a distress call from one of the migrants who managed to operate the maritime radio on board the Ezadeen, according to the Italian coast guard: "We're without crew, we're heading toward the Italian coast and we have no-one to steer."

The Ezadeen was built nearly 50 years ago and is a livestock carrier.

It was due to be sailing between Cyprus and the southern French port of Sete, according to a website tracking maritime movements.

It appears to be registered to a Lebanese company and has come under the control of human traffickers.

The first ship, the Blue Sky M, carrying 970 people, was abandoned and left on autopilot by its crew, believed to be people-traffickers.

Italian coast guards brought it under control and safely docked it at the Italian port of Gallipoli on Wednesday.

The migrants, believed to be mainly Syrians and Kurds, have been taken to local schools and a gymnasium.

Thirty-five of them were taken to hospital, with some treated for hypothermia, Italian Red Cross spokeswoman Mimma Antonacci said.

The Italian Red Cross had previously said that four people were found dead on the ship. It later withdrew its report, and officials now say no-one is known to have died on the ship, Reuters reports.

Migrant surge

Italy has had to deal with a massive surge in migrants - many of them from the Middle East and the Horn of Africa - setting off on boats with hopes of reaching Europe.

The Blue Sky is listed as a general cargo ship, sailing under a Moldovan flag.

The safety manager of a company hired to provide safety certification for the ship told the BBC he had withdrawn its certificate several months ago after finding it unsafe.

Those aboard the Blue Sky M made it to land, but the fate of those on the Ezadeen remains uncertain