UpdateSecond migrant ‘ghost ship’ towed to Italian port as people smugglers adopt new tactics
Fears people traffickers are adopting new policy of abandoning large ships full of migrants at sea in the expectation Italian authorities will intervene to save them
A ship abandoned by its crew and left drifting with 450 migrants on board reached Italy’s jagged southern coast on Friday, ending the second gruelling “ghost ship” rescue operation in a week.
Women and children were among hundreds of migrants left stranded aboard the Ezadeen, which docked in the port of Corigliano Calabro around 11pm, local time, after a delicate operation by the Italian navy to take control of the boat.
Six coastguard officers were earlier lowered from a helicopter onto the deck of the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel to set up a tow for the 40 kilometres to the Italian coast.
“We are alone, there is no one, help us.”
The rescue is the latest in a series of maritime operations Italy has mounted in recent days as it struggles with a record wave of migrants making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.
On Wednesday, the navy faced more drama after it stopped another crewless “ghost” ship left drifting in its waters with nearly 800 migrants on board.
Adding to the drama, on Friday another crew brought the burned-out ferry Norman Atlantic into the Italian port of Brindisi, six days after a fire killed 13 passengers and forced the rescue of 477.