The 33 meter long, 37 dwt ferry Beluo went aground on the rocks near the island of Ponza, Italy. The Beluo had 4 crew and no passengers on board. The Italian Coast Guard was contacted and a patrol boat safely rescued the crew. The ferry is holed its hull and suffered some water ingress. The Coast Guard eased the vessel off the rocks and was emptying the diesel fuel tanks to prevent any pollution causing environmental damage.
Reports state 2 women drown when a vessel with 250 immigrants went aground off the shores of the small island of Pantelleria, Italy. The small fishing vessel was dangerously overloaded when it struck rocks near the coast. The vessel had gotten lost when it went into the shallow waters offshore. Many immigrants threw themselves into the water trying to reach shore even with the choppy seas. Two patrol boats were able to rescue several in the water while rescuers onshore secured a line to help getting them out of the sea.
A 13-meter long motor vessel capsized and sank off the small island of Lampedusa, Italy. The vessel was loaded with over 200 migrants encountered rough conditions after departing from Zuwarah, Libya. The Malta Coast Guard began a search and rescue mission after someone on the vessel had used a satellite phone to make a SOS call. Italian Coast Guard has rescued 48 survivors while a fishing vessel rescued another 3 from the water. High winds and rough seas has hampered rescue efforts. There are 130 to 250 people still reported as missing.
