An international rescue effort was under way in high winds after a car ferry 'The Norman Atlantic' carrying 466 passengers and crew caught fire while sailing from Greece to Italy, international media said citing officials on Sunday.

Passengers who telephoned Greek television stations gave dramatic testimony of conditions on the ship, which caught fire just before 6.00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT).

It was traveling from Patras in western Greece to the eastern Italian city of Ancona.

"They tried to lower some boats, but not all of us could get in. There is no coordination," one passenger said. "It's dark, the bottom of the vessel is on fire. We are on the bridge, we can see a boat approaching... we opened some boxes and got some life vests, we are trying to save ourselves."

It was unclear whether there had been any casualties or whether any passengers were in the water, where cold winter temperatures would make survival difficult unless rescue came quickly, media reports said.

The Norman Atlantic was carrying 222 vehicles, 411 passengers and 55 crew. According to the Greek Coast Guards, it was 44 nautical miles northwest of the island of Corfu when it sent a distress signal after a fire started in the lower deck.