Another Refugee Vessel Boarded off of Italy's Coast

The Ezadeen, seen here under tow by an Icelandic rescue ship. Image-Icelandic Coast Guard

For the second time in a week, the Italian Coast Guard has taken control of a vessel carrying refugees from Syria in Italian waters after the crew has abandoned the wheelhouse after setting course for the Italian mainland.

On Friday the Italian Coast Guard reported that it had landed a helicopter aboard the Ezadeen, a 50-year-old livestock carrier registered to a Lebanese company, after one of the migrants aboard the vessel made a distress call reporting “We are without crew, we are heading toward the Italian coast and we have no one to steer.”

The Sierra Leone-flagged, 240-foot vessel is believed to have set sail from Turkey with approximately 450 people aboard. The crew of the ship intended for the vessel to crash into the Italian peninsula, but the vessel ran out of fuel before it could reach its intended target.

After several hours and several attempts to attach a tow line, the ship was taken under tow by an Icelandic ship that is part of Italy’s border patrol mission.

This newest incident is the second in four days. It was earlier this week that another vessel, the Blue Sky M, also departed from Turkey, bound for Croatia, was abandoned by its crew after the ship was placed on auto-pilot and aimed for the Italian Coast. The Italian Coast Guard intercepted the Blue Sky M as well and placed a rescue crew aboard and took that vessel into port. That vessel came within five miles of crashing into the coast before being boarded. Almost 800 migrants were aboard the Blue Sky M, according to reports.

Italian officials report that they have apprehended four individuals that they claim were the crew of the Blue Sky M. They determined that the crew did not abandon ship as earlier believed, and instead mixed themselves in with the passengers aboard the ship in an effort to evade capture.

Another Refugee Vessel Boarded off of Italy’s Coast