The Italian coastguard rescued about 250 migrants, including a newborn baby, from a boat sailing a few miles off the coast of the Calabria region.
The rescue operation took place during Saturday night and was hampered by bad weather and sea conditions and therefore lasted more than 16 hours, the coastguard said in a statement.
A total of 244 people were rescued, including 41 minors, including the infant who was born on board.
Italy has seen a rapid increase in migrant arrivals by sea in recent weeks and this is expected to put further pressure on Mario Draghi's government to secure an agreement with its EU partners on how to deal with migrant flows.
Another 296 migrants were rescued by the Italian coastguard in the Mediterranean on 25 November while trying to reach Europe.
In a separate statement, the German NGO Sea-Watch reported yesterday that 461 people were disembarked from its rescue vessel in Augusta, Sicily.
Some 62,236 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, according to figures from the Interior Ministry, compared to 32,542 at the same time last year.
