Almost 900 migrants have landed on the southern Sicilian island of Lampedusa over the past week, sparking fears of a fresh immigration crisis.
A boat carrying six migrants arrived at dawn on Wednesday on the island, followed by a second boat some 30 minutes later with 33 people aboard including four women.
Another vessel was spotted by the coastguard some 60 miles to the south of Lampedusa and the 40 people aboard were being transferred to the island, the authorities said.
The migrants were taken to the island's immigrant holding centre, which only has room for 600 people but is now detaining more than 800.
The authorities said they were arranging the immediate transfer to the Italian mainland of at least 200 of the migrants.
They expressed concern that good weather would encourage a surge in migrant crossings over the next few weeks.
Immigration emergencies regularly explode on the small island of Lampedusa, which is closer to the coast of Tunisia than to the Italian mainland.
In 2006, over 97% of the migrants illegally travelling to Italy landed in Sicily and on Lampedusa, according to government statistics.
The numbers have increased dramatically in recent years, with 23,000 migrants landing on Lampedusa in 2005 compared to 13,000 in 2004.
Most of the immigrants are believed to set sail from Libya, a major staging post for those trying to reach Europe.
Many of them risk their lives by making the crossing in small, rickety boats.
At least 2,000 would-be-immigrants die every year as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
