More than 200 migrants died after their boats sank as they were attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Italy.

The two boats involved in the latest tragedy had departed from Libya on Saturday, carrying more than 100 passengers each, the BBC reports.

Nine people have been saved, while the remaining 203 passengers are believed to have become the victims of stormy seas, high waves and hypothermia.

In another accident, 29 migrants died on Monday off the Italian island of Lampedusa, when their inflatable boat overturned in high seas.

These are the first major incidents for 2015 in the Mediterranean, which has turned into the world's deadliest sea for crossing by migrants, claiming the lives of 3500 people in 2014.

It is questionable whether the EU's Triton operation will successfully replace Italy's search-and-rescue operation Mare Nostrum, which was discontinued in November 2014.

The Triton border patrol has fewer ships and and can act only when lives are immediately at risk, while the naval crews of Mare Nostrum had the prevention of death as their sole purpose.