Following reports of fighting and multiple suicide attempts, refugees stranded aboard a rescue ship in the Mediterranean are to be transferred to an Italian quarantine vessel.

Migrants rescued by a charity ship throw themselves in the water to try and swim to the nearby Italian island of Lampedusa in a desperate move after days stuck on board.

A charity rescue vessel on Saturday brought 41 shipwrecked migrants into port in Lampedusa, the second boat to defy far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's bid to close Italian ports to them.

Over 80 people are still missing after a boat transporting refugees sank off the coast of Libya in the Mediterranean, the IOM says.

At least 20 refugees are believed to have drown at sea during their abortive journey from Libya to Italy.

Eyewitnesses say 400 migrants may have drowned in the Mediterranean while crossing from Libya into Italy.

The Italian Coastguard retrieves 9 bodies from a capsized boat carrying illegal migrants.