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A boat with about 400 people on board is sinking in the sea between Greece and Malta, reports "Reuters".

The incident comes amid a sharp increase in migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.

The Alarm Phone Support Service said on Twitter that a call had been received from the boat, which had left overnight from Tobruk, Libya, and authorities had been notified.

However, no rescue operation has yet started.

The boat is located in Malta's search and rescue zone.

The German non-governmental organization Sea-Watch International reported that it found the boat with two merchant ships nearby.

At least 27 migrants have died or are missing after two boats sank off Tunis

It said Maltese authorities ordered the ships not to carry out rescue operations and one was simply asked to refuel her.

Alarm Phone said people on board panicked, with some requiring medical attention.

They said the boat had run out of fuel and its lower deck had filled with water, and the captain had left the ship and there was no one to steer the vessel.

Another NGO, Germany's Resqship, said yesterday that at least 23 migrants had died overnight in the Mediterranean in a separate shipwreck.

Last week, 440 migrants were rescued off Malta after a complex 11-hour operation in rough seas by the Medecins Sans Frontières charity ship Geo Barents.

On Saturday, at least 23 African migrants went missing and four died after their two boats sank off Tunisia trying to reach the coast of Italy.