The Italian coastguard has rescued around 600 migrants who were on a fishing boat in danger off Sicily, the ANSA news agency reported on Sunday.

The operation was conducted southeast of the island, under difficult weather conditions, the agency said.

More than a hundred of the rescued have already been brought ashore by a ship of FRONTEX, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. They are now in the Sicilian city of Catania, ANSA said.

Another two hundred are expected there later this morning. While three hundred are transported by Navy ship to Augusta, near Syracuse.

The German non-governmental organization Sea-Watch noted that it spotted several boats with migrants in the Mediterranean over the weekend. One was carrying 221 people, who were also rescued by the Italian coast guard, he added. There has so far been no official confirmation of the specific rescue operation.

Italy’s interior ministry counts more than 32,700 migrant arrivals by sea so far this year, compared to around 7,900 in the corresponding period of 2022.

The far-right coalition government declared a state of emergency last week due to increased migration flows in the central Mediterranean.