Around 1,200 migrants are being rescued by the Italian coast guard from overcrowded boats off the coast of Sicily in two massive operations.
On one of the fishing boats, there are about 800 passengers, while on the other, there are about 400.
Since Friday, the nation’s coastguard has already saved about 2,000 people through separate operations.
According to the German non-profit ResQship, at least two persons perished during the weekend’s boat crossings.
Despite efforts by the right-wing coalition administration to crack down on irregular migration, the number of migrants arriving in Italy has sharply increased in comparison to the same period last year.
The boat carrying 400 people, which is believed to have set out from Tobruk in Libya, was still without help late on Monday evening, according to an unofficial hotline for migrants in distress, Alarm Phone.
It said it had raised an urgent alarm with the authorities of Italy, Greece and Malta on Sunday.
German non-governmental organisation Sea-Watch International said two merchant vessels near one of the ships had been ordered not to help with rescue efforts by Malta while the boat was in Maltese waters. Instead, one of the ships had been allowed to supply it with fuel and water. The Maltese government has not commented on the matter.
Alarm Phone said that it had been in contact with people on board the boat, which is now in Italian waters south-east of Capo Passero. It said the boat was adrift and taking on water on Sunday. A woman on board also said it was without its captain and had several people in need of medical care.
An operation to rescue the 800 people on the other boat is also under way south-east of Syracuse, but the operation has been complicated by overcrowding on board, the Italian coast guard said. It was not immediately clear where the boat had set out from.
Other boats arrived at the Italian island of Lampedusa, one of the main arrival ports for people wanting to reach Europe, over the weekend.
At least two migrants died and around 20 others were missing after their boat sank on Saturday night, ResQship said.
According to monitoring group IOM Missing Migrants Project, more than 26,000 people have died or gone missing at sea in the central Mediterranean since 2014.