Italy rescues 'ghost' ship carrying hundreds of migrants but no crew

ROME, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The Italian Navy has seized control of the Blue Sky M cargo ship, believed to be carrying 700 Kurdish and Syrian migrants, after receiving a distress call.

The cargo ship was reportedly on auto-pilot with no crew on board as it headed toward the Italian coast on Tuesday.

It is unclear what happened to the crew, which was apparently on board earlier Tuesday when the Moldovan-flagged vessel issued a distress call while in Greek waters. "The captain of the vessel said that he wasn't facing any problems and the ship moved on to Italian waters," a Greek coast guard official said. There was no further information on what prompted the distress call.

Six Italian coast guard officials boarded the Blue Sky M late Tuesday to assess the situation, reportedly finding the vessel without any crew and carrying hundreds of passengers, presumed to be migrants.

Italy's Coast Guard was able to disable the engines and dock the ship at the port of Gallipoli. The local Red Cross responded to the scene.

"I saw the ship arrive and the coaches that carried off the migrants... I saw the police and the Red Cross that set up the tents. I have a friend in civil protection who told me that there were about 800 to 900 people inside the ship. We can't confirm that there are dead people inside but my friend told me that there were about four or five dead people."