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Four migrants were found dead on a "ghost" cargo ship packed with almost 1,000 Syrian refugees after the vessel was apparently abandoned by its crew in Greek waters.
The Blue Sky M, which has been taken to Italy, was carrying an estimated 970 migrants when it was spotted drifting near the coast of Corfu in the Adriatic Sea on Tuesday.
Italy's coastguard said it narrowly averted another high seas disaster by intercepting the freighter, which was on a collision course with Italy's rocky shoreline.
Already working flat out because of the Norman Atlantic ferry disaster, it scrambled two helicopters, a navy frigate and two patrol vessels overnight after realising the Moldovan-registered ship was in trouble.
Officers said the cargo ship's engine had been locked on with the steering set on a direction that would have led to it crashing ashore somewhere in the Puglia region on the "heel" of Italy.
Six coastguard officers boarded the vessel and, after some frantic moments on the bridge, were able to unlock the engines and bring the boat under control just five miles from the coast.
The migrants on board, including a heavily pregnant woman whose waters broke during the drama, were taken to the port of Gallipoli as an inquest began into how the alarming incident had occurred.
More than 100 people were treated for hypothermia.
Most of the people on board were Syrian, Red Cross spokeswoman Mimma Antonagi said. The passengers were believed to be illegal immigrants.
"The ship was abandoned by its crew in open water," Antonagi said. "If (Italian officers) had not gone on board, it would have crashed into the coast."
Italian coastguard spokesman Filippo Marini said: "It was a real race against the clock. Unlocking the engines was a difficult and delicate operation, but they managed to do it."
In a tweet from its official account, the coastguard said a "massacre" had been avoided.
The coastguard traced the ship's location after a passenger made a satellite phone call seeking help.
It was not clear what port the ship had left from.
Greece's coastguard had on Tuesday afternoon received a distress call from someone on board the Blue Sky M who reported that it was being navigated by heavily armed men. But it apparently only ran a cursory check on the vessel and was told by the captain everything was fine.
Italian officials suspect that the vessel was under the control of people smugglers who later jumped ship, as they frequently do in the knowledge that their human cargo will be picked up by navy or merchant ships. One man suspected of involvement with the traffickers was arrested after the boat arrived in Gallipoli.
The latest safety scare in the Adriatic comes after at least 13 people were killed in a huge rescue operation to save an Italian ferry that burst into flames in stormy seas on Sunday.
Both rescue operations have had to combat strong winds and stormy conditions, according to port police.
Civil war in Syria and anarchy in Libya have swelled the number of people crossing the Mediterranean in rickety boats this year, often bound for Italy and Greece.
The United Nations refugee agency says 160,000 seaborne migrants arrived in Italy by November 2014 and a further 40,000 in Greece. Thousands more have died attempting the journey.
Additional reporting from Reuters
 


Four migrants dead on runaway cargo ship packed with 970 refugees

Cold and terrified, the mostly Syrian refugees pack the decks of the Blue Sky M cargo ship at Gallipoli harbour. Photo: Reuters

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