Rome ( CNN ) It could have been , in the words of the Italian coast guard , a disaster . But thanks to authorities , a ship on course to crash against the rocky Italian coast was stopped in time , saving passengers and averting a possible environmental catastrophe . Italian coast guard commander Filippo Marini said the vessel was cruising on autopilot toward the coast at 6 nautical miles per hour . When it entered Italian search and rescue waters , the coast guard sent helicopters with six men , who boarded the ship and took control . The course of the vessel was reversed to avoid a collision with the rocks , and it was piloted instead to Gallipoli , in Italy 's southern Puglia region . It docked safely there Wednesday . The freighter carried 796 migrants , the coast guard said Thursday , most believed to be from war-torn Syria . Authorities on Wednesday put the number of migrants on board at 768 . The crew of the Blue Sky M apparently jumped ship . The coast guard said a collision would not only have led to the deaths of passengers , but would also have created an environmental disaster . It said a `` real disaster '' was avoided . The freighter sent a distress signal near the Greek island of Corfu on Tuesday , alerting Italian and Greek authorities to the situation on board . The Greek Merchant Marine Ministry and the Greek Navy have said the pilot of a Greek helicopter that flew over the cargo ship spoke with the captain , who said the ship was not in distress and did not need assistance . Floriana Segreto , a spokeswoman for the Italian coast guard in Rome , said there were no deaths related to the Blue Sky M incident . She added that about 100 people have been hospitalized , mainly because of the cold and exhaustion . It was not immediately clear where the migrants will go . The authorities will investigate what happened to the crew and how the freighter reached Italy 's waters .
Italy 's coast guard says there were 796 migrants aboard the ship . The crew had abandoned the freighter , which was cruising toward the rocky coast . Comment: