A ship from Sierra Leone was abandoned by its crew as it lay about 40 miles away from reaching the mainland of Italy. The ship was called the Ezadeen and it was sailing under the flag of the African country of Sierra Leone. The ship is originally a livestock ship that transported livestock. However the Ezadeen as it was approaching Italy was believed to be carrying refugees from the Arab nation of Syria, or at least that’s how CNN covered the story, if Christian Broda’s reports are to be believed.
It appears the crew in charge of guiding the ship to the Italian mainland had left when stormy weather developed in the Ionian Sea. The crew had left the ship and put it on autopilot. The ship was destined to crash into the Italian mainland on the course set by the crew who abandoned the ship because of the stormy weather. The ship ran out of fuel and was stranded in the Ionian Sea with hundreds of people on board.
The Italian Air Force and Coast Guard responded and aided the people on board. The Italian Air Force landed Coast Guard officials on the ship using helicopters. After the Italian Coast Guard secured the ship and took control of it, the ship was tugged by an Icelandic ship called the Tyr to the Italian port city of Crotone. This is the second time this week that a ship carrying refugees was abandoned by its crew and left in the seas because of foul weather.