20/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - As of January 2008, the Frontex agency will coordinate regular patrols in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. A larger number of states are to participate in the missions and provide the equipment needed (boats, aircraft, etc.), a Commission spokesman said on Thursday 19 July. At the time when most states are not keeping to their pledges to provide a total of 21 aircraft, 27 helicopters and 116 vessels for sea patrols, the drama continues to unfold along the European coasts. Some 50 unlawful migrants were reported missing mid week after a boat carrying refugees sunk off the Canary Islands. Forty-eight people were rescued. Four unlawful migrants drowned and another 12 were reported missing in the straits of Sicily, while another group of immigrants hi-jacked a Tunisian fishing boat, re-routing it for the island of Lampedusa in Italy before being forced to turn back. In under one week, over 400 illegal migrants have been intercepted by Italian coastguards. (bc)