Italy’s coast guard launched several operations on Friday to rescue hundreds of migrants aboard several boats off the Italian coast, less than two weeks after at least 73 people drowned in a shipwreck, Reuters reported.

“More than 1,000 people are at risk,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The president of the southern Calabria region, Roberto Ociuto, said a total of around 1,300 migrants were on board the boats, which the European Union’s Frontex border force warned could be in trouble.

Three coast guard boats tried to disembark about 500 migrants who were on the ship 110 km south of the Calabrian town of Crotone – not far from the site of the February 26 disaster.

The coast guard said it had also sent several boats to rescue about 800 migrants aboard two other ships further out to sea. An Italian Navy ship was also on its way to the area to help.

“Rescue operations … are particularly difficult due to the large number of people on board the drifting vessels,” the coast guard said.

In a separate incident on Friday, the coast guard detained nearly 500 migrants off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, local media reported.

“In recent days, we have noticed an increase in attempts to cross the Central Mediterranean,” Frontex told Reuters in a written statement.

“Just yesterday, our planes and drones detected 20 boats with hundreds of people on their way to the shores of Italy. In the coming hours, the weather conditions will worsen,” Frontex reports.

Italy’s ability to rescue migrants at sea came under scrutiny after the shipwreck off Calabria on February 26. The boy’s body was found on Friday, bringing the death toll to 73, with many migrants still missing.