DHAKA: A cargo vessel carrying hundreds of migrants is being towed to Italy after it was abandoned by smugglers and left drifting without a crew in the second such case in just a few days.

Italian Coast Guard Commander Filippo Marini said on Friday that after several hours of struggling in rough seas, rescue teams managed to secure the Ezadeen for towing toward the southern Calabrian region, reports Al-jazeera.com

An Icelandic ship, part of a European new European patrol force to aid migrants at sea, was doing the tow.

Children and pregnant women were among an estimated 450 migrants on board, most of who were believed to be Syrian, said Marini. The Sierra-Leone-flagged cargo ship apparently set sail from Turkey, he said.

The engines of the ship were left on autopilot by fleeing crew and shut down due to malfunction late on Thursday.

One of the estimated 450 people on board the Ezadeen was able to operate the ship's radio and informed the coastguard that the crew had jumped ship.

The Italian air force sent a helicopter to lower rescuers on to the vessel as bad weather conditions made it impossible to board the ship other than from the air.

** Uncrewed migrant ship loses power off Italy

BDST: 1555 HRS, JAN 02, 2015