Dumped on a crewless cargo ship on a fixed course to crash into the Italian coast, nearly 1,000 migrants were rescued early yesterday just hours from certain disaster.

Italian coastguards said the Blue Sky M was carrying 970 desperate immigrants – many of them women and children – with its engine locked on autopilot heading towards Puglia in south-east Italy.

Six coastguards were lowered by helicopter to the bridge of the Moldovan-flagged vessel and corrected the ship’s course after taking control of its jammed engines and navigation computers.

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Rescue: Some 970 migrants were led to safety from the Moldovan-flagged Blue Sky M when it arrived in Gallipoli, Italy in the early hours of New Years Eve

Tragic: Four people have died and this man is being stretchered from the cargo ship

Freezing temperatures: Children are carried away wrapped in blankets from the Blue Sky M cargo ship

Migrants: The ship was carrying 970 people, some suffering from frostbite

Because of stormy seas in the Adriatic, the rescuers could not board the ship from coastguard vessels.

Commander Filippo Marini said: ‘There would have been death and destruction – the ship was only a few miles away from the coast of Puglia.’

He added: ‘It was a real race against the clock. Unlocking the engines was a difficult and delicate operation, but they managed to do it.’ Mimma Antonagi, of the Red Cross, said: ‘The ship was abandoned by its crew in open water. If [the Italian officers] had not gone on board, it would have crashed into the coast.’

The ship’s position was traced after a passenger made an emergency satellite phone call to Greek officials, pleading: ‘We have no water, blankets or food.’

The caller said there were armed men aboard – thought to have been the people smugglers – but there was no sign of them when the coastguard arrived.

The Blue Sky M had recently had its safety certificates withdrawn after it was ruled unseaworthy.

After it docked in the Italian port of Gallipoli, hundreds of desperately cold men, women and children carrying their few remaining possessions were helped to safety.

Wrapped in blankets, they stumbled off the ship to waiting aid workers and ambulances.

One woman holding a young child collapsed and several had to be carried on stretchers.

Medics treated refugees as they were brought ashore following their ordeal on the high seas

Investigation: Authorities are trying to find out how the migrants came to be hidden on the Blue Sky M

Immigrants: The crew abandoning the ship strengthens the theory that the 970 passengers are illegals

Coastguard: Spokesman Commander Filippo Marini said the team took control of the ship after determining there was no crew to be found

Abandoned: The Blue Sky M was carrying 970 migrants when it was spotted near the coast of Corfu yesterday

Many of the migrants had been forced to huddle for hours on the main deck, and more than 100 were treated for hypothermia.

Most are thought to have been fleeing the vicious fighting in Syria and Kurdistan.

A Moldovan man was arrested on suspicion of being one of the traffickers after trying to pass himself off as one of the migrants.

Italian prosecutors impounded the Blue Sky M after it docked yesterday as they began an investigation into the incident. Italy is facing a massive surge in migrants from the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.

The most common sea route has been from Libya, but this ship is said to have come from Turkey, although it is not known from which port it set off.

It is unusual for a vessel the size of the Blue Sky M to be used by people smugglers. Reports suggest they bought or hired it and charged the migrants thousands of dollars each with the promise of safe passage to Europe.

Distress call: Moldovan cargo ship Blue Sky was allegedly carrying 970 illegal immigrants when it sent out the distress call (not pictured today)

Shiptracking: The Blue Sky changed its course and made a sharp turn towards Italy instead of Croatia where it was heading

Route: Shiptracking data shows the Blue Sky made two sharp turns before heading towards Italy

They appear to have begun the hazardous journey with their human cargo before fixing the ship on a course to Italy and abandoning it by speed boat.

To avoid capture, smugglers frequently abandon migrants at sea, sometimes overturning the crowded migrant boats as they leave, according to survivors. This year alone, more than 100,000 migrants were rescued at sea by Italian officials. Hundreds drowned in the attempt.

The Blue Sky M was originally heading for the port of Rijeka in Croatia.

According to the tracking website MarineTraffic, the ship abruptly changed direction on Tuesday morning, heading west towards Italy. This is thought to have been when the smugglers abandoned their human cargo to its fate.

Weather conditions in the region have been poor for days, also hampering the rescue of those stranded on the Norman Atlantic ferry which caught fire on Sunday, killing at least ten people. More than 400 were rescued in gale-force winds.

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