DHAKA: An uncrewed merchant ship carrying 450 migrants has lost power as it headed towards Italy's coast and a helicopter has been sent to lower rescuers on to the vessel, the Italian air force has said.

The vessel, said to have been abandoned by the crew, is floating 65km off Capo di Leuca, the tip of Italy's heel, the air force said in a statement on Thursday. The Al-Jazeera.com publishes this report on Friday.

"Because of the difficult weather conditions the ship can only be boarded from the air," the air force.

The ship was identified as the 60-metre-long Sierra Leone-registered Ezadeen.

Prior to losing power, the ship had been moving at a brisk seven knots and had been spotted by a coastguard plane 130km offshore shortly after nightfall.

One of the people on board the Ezadeen was able to operate the ship's radio and informed the coastguard that the crew had jumped ship.

The coastguard asked for assistance from Icelandic patrol boat Tyr, which was in the area on a mission with Frontex, the European Union's border agency.

The Tyr was able to draw alongside the runaway ship, but the weather conditions made boarding impossible.

The Icelandic vessel has three doctors on board who will be winched on to the merchant ship by helicopter to treat any unwell passengers, the air force said.

BDST: 0911 HRS, JAN 02, 2015