Milan: Following an increase in the number of migrants entering the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, the Italian coast guard announced on Monday that it is conducting operations to rescue two boats carrying a combined total of 1,200 people.

One of the boats, which is in the Ionian Sea off the southern Italian region of Calabria and is carrying 400 people, was previously seen in Maltese waters.

A merchant ship in the area had reportedly provided fuel and water to the fishing boat in distress earlier on Monday, according to the German NGO Sea-Watch International, which had located the boat with one of its planes, but Maltese authorities had ordered it not to conduct a rescue.

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Alarm Phone, a support service, had reported the ship was adrift and taking on water early on Sunday. The ship had departed from Tobruk, Libya. In spite of numerous requests for comment, the Maltese government remained silent.

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The Italian coast guard's other rescue effort on Monday involved assisting an 800-person fishing boat that was over 120 miles southeast of Siracusa, Sicily.

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In a statement, it was stated that the large number of passengers on board complicated the operation. According to a coast guard spokesperson, due to challenging circumstances, including the great distance from the coast, it would take hours to finish the two ongoing operations.

The Italian coast guard claimed that prior to these two operations, they had already saved about 2,000 migrants since Friday.