The Italian navy has recovered the bodies of 18 African migrants off Lampedusa island, Italy's southernmost point, local reports said on Sunday.
All the dead asylum seekers were men and were travelling onboard a packed boat which run into troubles while trying to reach the Italian coast.
The navy ships taking part in the Italian government's search-and-rescue mission Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) reportedly pulled to safety 73 people from the same boat.
Since Friday, Italian ships have saved more than 3,500 migrants, only the latest of countless arrivals in recent months, according to a statement published on the Italian Navy's official website.
The fresh tragedy came a day after Libya's coast guard confirmed that a boat carrying some 170 illegal immigrants had sunk near Tripoli coast.
In an interview published by Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano reaffirmed that Mare Nostrum was born in October 2013 as a "limited-term" operation which should be "replaced by a European action."
The Italian government has repeatedly called for help from the European Union in tackling the migrant emergency that according to some sources has caused at least 2,000 deaths only since the beginning of 2014, but little progress has been made so far.