The Italian coast guard is braced for an increase in the number of  desperate people trying to reach their shores as summer approaches.

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The migrants were picked up from seven flimsy and overcrowded boats.

The Phoenix rescue ship, operated by the Malta-based non-governmental organization MOAS, rescued more than 300 people from three boats in international waters off the coast of the Libyan city of Sabratha.

The Aquarius, operated by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors without Borders, went to the aid of four rubber boats.

Migrants arriving in Italy on boats from North Africa are up some 30 percent so far this year.

Some 600 people have died trying to reach Italy in 2017.

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