Ten migrants may have drowned in the Mediterranean this week when a Dutch cargo ship collided with their flimsy boat.

Jumbo Shipping said one of its craft travelling from Derince in Turkey to Plymouth in England came across the packed polyester boat in stormy seas on Monday evening.

The crew tried to rescue the 12 people on board but the boat -- 4 to 5 metres (12 to 15 feet) in length, with an outboard motor -- capsized after bumping into the cargo vessel, Jumbo Shipping said in a statement. Only three migrants were pulled from the water, one of whom later died. The Spanish and Algerian coastguards were involved in the rescue attempt but the search was called off in the early hours of Tuesday. The survivors and dead were taken ashore by the Algerian navy.