Brussels, 17/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - Two ships transporting almost 440 African immigrants landed on Saturday 15 December on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, according to a report by the Ansa agency. This arrival follows a wave of thousands of illegal immigrants coming from the North African coast over recent weeks. Lampedusa was very much in the media spotlight in the spring of 2011, during the beginning of the Arab Spring, when tens of thousands of immigrants arrived on the island. The Italian authorities said that between January and September 2012, more than 8,000 migrants continued to arrive on Italian shores. On Saturday, the first boat transported 218 immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, while the second boat transported around 220 people. Most of the boats landing in Lampedusa come from Libya, explained Ansa. (SP/transl.fl)