Search continues for missing ship

ROME, Italy -- A ship believed to be carrying as many as 180 illegal immigrants was still missing on Monday, after sending a distress signal.

The ship, called the Davis, sent an SOS message from the waters off southern Italy on Saturday evening.

An Italian coastguard spokesman said they had searched the area with speedboats and a helicopter over the weekend, but were still unable to locate the vessel.

"The search is still continuing," the spokesman for the Brindisi coastguard said on Monday morning.

Greek radio operators picked up the signal and transferred it to Italy, which estimated the boat to be 24-30 nautical miles off the coast of Brindisi on Italy's southeastern heel.

The coastguard said it was not known precisely how many people were on board, but the ship was thought to be transporting illegal immigrants.

Italian radio said the vessel was carrying at least 180 people.

Hundreds of boats had crossed the Adriatic Sea, many of them bringing illegal immigrants to Italy from Greece, Turkey and the Croatian and Albanian coasts.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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