A merchant ship carrying about 400 refugees has been towed to Corigliano Calabro, a port in southern Italy, after being abandoned by people-smugglers in the Mediterranean.
Some 500 Syrian would-be immigrants arrive aboard the 'Ezadeen' arrive at Corigliano Calabro. Photo: AFP
Earlier, rescuers boarded the Ezadeen after a passenger raised the alarm as it drifted in the Mediterranean.
The ship, sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone and usually used to transport live animals, lost power in rough seas overnight off the south-east of Italy.
A total of 796 refugees were rescued from the Blue Sky M - another ship found abandoned without any crew - earlier in the week. The people-smugglers involved earned about $3 million from their operation.
Italy's coastguard tweeted to say the Ezadeen arrived into port shortly before 11pm local time.
In ingresso nel porto di Corigliano il mercantile EZADEEN
— Guardia Costiera (@guardiacostiera) January 2, 2015
Cmdr Filippo Marini said that the vessel was towed by an Icelandic ship that is part of the EU Frontex border control mission, the BBC reported.
Children and pregnant women were among the refugees, most of whom were believed to be Syrian, Mr Marini said.
He added that the 73-metre Ezadeen was believed to have set sail from Turkey, although earlier reports suggested it was sailing from Cyprus.
About 400 would-be immigrants arrive aboard the 'Ezadeen' at Corigliano Calabro, Italy. Photo: AFP
Refugees gather at a first aid centre after arriving in Italy aboard the Moldovan-flagged 'Blue Sky M'. Photo: AFP
A Frontex spokesperson, Izabella Cooper, said the refugees were victims of smugglers using a different route to the usual one from Libya.
"What we are currently witnessing is the opening of a new migratory route where the smugglers buy old scrap cargo vessels, departing from Turkey," she said.
"This route is longer and the fees charged by the smugglers about three times higher than the fee charged by the smugglers from Libya."
The alarm was raised in a distress call from one of the refugees using the maritime radio on board, who told the Italian coastguard: "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 appears to be registered to a Lebanese company and has come under the control of human traffickers.
