3 seamen missing as Turkish ship goes down off Italy

Three sailors have gone missing after a Turkish-registered merchant ship sank off an Italian port.

The incident took place on Sunday when the ship collided with another vessel in stormy conditions, Italian Coast Guard said.

In total, there were 11 men on board the Turkish vessel and the other, Belize-registered, ship. The collision happened about a mile and a half (two kilometers) off the port of Ravenna on Italy’s Adriatic coast.

This comes as Italy is attempting to organize the evacuation of hundreds of passengers and crew from a stricken ferry off the Greek island of Corfu, in the south of the Adriatic.

Media reports say the ship was traveling from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona, Italy, when it caught fire on Sunday. It was reportedly carrying 466 passengers and crew and more than 200 vehicles. Greek coast guard officials said the ferry sent a distress signal after a fire started in its lower deck.

Sources say it is still unclear whether there had been casualties or if any passengers had jumped into the water.

Greek Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said earlier in the day that nearby ships were instructed to take the passengers from the ferry to safety.

He noted that several passengers had been transported in a lifeboat to a nearby Greek ferry, adding that the rescue efforts were being hampered by gale-force winds.