Italian navy and coast guard ships rescued around 1,500 migrants aboard five boats in the southern Mediterranean in less than 24 hours, officials said today

All of the migrants were rescued yesterday by two coast guard ships and one navy ship in five separate operations, the coast guard said in a statement.

Three of the migrants' boats were in difficulty and sent rescue requests via satellite phones while they were off the coast of Libya. The Italian vessels spotted the other two while heading for the others.

The migrants were all transferred onto the Italian ships and were being taken to either the island of Lampedusa or ports in Sicily, the statement said.

A pregnant woman was airlifted to Malta on an Italian Navy helicopter. Officials said she was suffering exhaustion and dehydration but was generally stable. (See separate story).

About 170,000 migrants entered the European Union through Italy last year by way of the dangerous sea crossing organised by human traffickers, most departing from Libya.

More than 3,000 perished.