Migrants warmed by emergency blankets arrive on a boat of the Italian Guardia di Finanza law enforcement agency on Monday to disembark on the southern Italian Pelagie Island of Lampedusa. More than 1,400 migrants arrived on the island of Lampedusa over the weekend, sparking calls from far-right politicians for action to stem the flow. Photo: AFP

More than 250 migrants disembarked in Sicily on Saturday from an NGO rescue ship, while another vessel carrying around 550 people was given permission to land on the Italian island.

Both ships had put out urgent appeals for a safe port following days at sea in the central Mediterranean, warning of the deteriorating health of those on board, who include children.

"The #SeaWatch3 [ship] reached the port of Trapani this morning. We are happy to finally have a port of safety," the German organization Sea Watch International tweeted, saying 257 people were being disembarked.

On Thursday, they had warned of a "critical" situation, with a lack of many medicines and symptoms of dehydration appearing among many of those on board, some of whom had been at sea for a week.

Meanwhile, the crew of another rescue vessel, Ocean Viking, told AFP they had been given permission to disembark their 549 passengers at the Sicilian port on Sunday.

They had earlier warned they were running out of medication, some on board were suffering from dehydration and others had skin infections.

"What we need is a place of safety to disembark them as soon as possible," crew member and spokeswoman Julia Schaerfermeyer said.

The vessel, run by French NGO SOS Mediterranee, rescued 555 people last weekend, although two pregnant women and two others have since been evacuated.

They were waiting off the east coast of Sicily for permission to disembark. They said requests to Malta were rejected while Tunisia and Libya did not respond.

AFP