( CNN ) -- More than 200 migrants have been rescued from an overcrowded boat at risk of sinking in rough waters in the Mediterranean Sea , the Italian navy said Thursday . The alarm was raised on the evening of New Year 's Day , when the boat was spotted about 80 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa . The boat , which measured only 10 meters ( 33 feet ) long , was carrying 233 people without life jackets , the navy statement said . Can world prevent more Lampedusas ? Given the rough seas and the boat 's `` precarious state of buoyancy , '' the decision was made to transfer the 233 people , seven of them women , to a navy ship , the San Marco . All were safely recovered , the statement said . The migrants , from Eritrea , Nigeria , Somalia , Pakistan , Zambia and Mali , were all moved safely , the statement said . After being transferred to a frigate , the migrants will be taken to the port of Augusta , on the Italian island of Sicily , where they are expected to arrive Thursday evening , it said . How do illegal immigrants get into EU ? Meanwhile , the Greek coast guard has rescued 85 migrants -- including 15 children and 20 women -- after their boat got into trouble in stormy weather in the southeastern Aegean Sea . They were taken to a port on the Aegean island of Astypalea , where they arrived Thursday , the coast guard said . They are being given medical help , food and other emergency supplies , the coast guard said . Greece 's semiofficial Macedonian News Agency reported that the migrants are Syrians and Afghans , but the coast guard has not yet confirmed their nationality . Sea of death . As the closest Italian island to Africa , Lampedusa is a frequent destination for refugees seeking to enter European Union countries , and shipwrecks off its shores are common . Many of the migrants are from African nations , while others have fled war-torn Syria . More than 300 African migrants died in October after their ship sank off the island 's shores . Days later , another 34 people died when their boat capsized . Tens of thousands of people are rescued each year from the Mediterranean , according to the European Union border agency , Frontex . Smugglers often pack migrants into unseaworthy , ill-equipped and overcrowded boats , adding to the dangers of the journey . Between January and September of last year , 31,000 migrants are believed to have entered the European Union illegally by crossing the Mediterranean to land on Italian soil or the island of Malta , Frontex said . Opinion : Why Europe 's immigration nightmare is only beginning . Opinion : What is place of outsiders in European society ? Journalists Livia Borghese and Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this report .
NEW : Greece 's coast guard rescues 85 migrants in a separate operation . The Italian navy rescues 233 migrants from an overcrowded boat in high seas . Comment: Tens of thousands embark on the risky crossing each year in the hope of reaching EU soil .