The old fishing boat probably set sail from Libya: More than 500 migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa on Monday evening.
Among them were women and children.
The people presumably came from Morocco, Syria, Bangladesh and Egypt, as reported by the Ansa news agency and local media.
The 15-meter-long ship was intercepted by the customs police seven kilometers from the island and escorted to the port.
Previously, 119 people had already arrived on Monday on board five ships on the island.
The small island of Lampedusa lies between Malta and Tunisia.
Time and again dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of refugees who had fled from the coasts of Libya or Tunisia to Europe land on the island.
In the central Mediterranean, there are also private organizations that rescue people from distress at sea.
The "Ocean Viking" from SOS Méditerranée took more than 570 people on board within a few days in the summer and waited for days to be assigned a safe harbor.
kha / dpa