BAGDAD: The smugglers adopt new tactics for illegal entrance to Europe. The new tactic named as ghost ships are wildly under use for this purpose.
Authorities fear the large, crewless cargo ships intercepted off the Italian coastline this week are part of a new strategy used by smugglers to ferry desperate migrants across the Mediterranean.
Twice in recent days Italian coastguards have had to take control of unmanned freighters, so-called “ghost ships,” plowing towards the country’s southern shores.
In the latest incident on Friday, the Italian navy stopped the Ezadeen merchant ship as it headed through rough seas some 40 kilometers (25 miles) off Italy’s heel with 450 mostly Syrian migrants on board. Italian Coast Guard Cmdr.
“There was no crew, and one migrant, a woman, took the call,” he said. “She said: ‘We are alone. Please help us. We are in danger.'”
Italian sailors were flown to the ship by helicopter and lowered onto the deck to bring the craft under control.
Two days earlier, smugglers set the Moldovan-flagged cargo ship Blue Sky M on autopilot toward Italy’s shore with nearly 800 people on board before jumping ship. Similarly, coast guard officers were flown in to steer the vessel to safety.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, said it was “following closely the events surrounding” the crewless Ezadeen merchant ship.
“The rescues of the Blue Sky M two days ago and of the Ezadeen show that smugglers are finding new ways to enter EU territory,” a commission spokesperson told news agency AFP.
