ROME (AP) — Italy made a formal request for more support from the European Union on Wednesday as it copes with an increase in migrant rescues, including a reported proposal to limit the types of ships that can offload migrants in Italian ports.

Italy's ambassador to the EU, Maurizio Massari, met with EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos as a half-dozen different ships offloaded some of the more than 10,000 migrants rescued in recent days.

"Discussed with Italian ambassador our support after increasing numbers of arrivals in Italy," Avramopoulos tweeted.

Italian news agency ANSA said Italy was proposing a ban on non-Italian flagged rescue ships disembarking migrants in Italian ports, though not those participating in the EU's Frontex rescue operation. That would affect mostly European-based humanitarian rescue ships, which have flooded the waters off Libya's coast in the past year to pick up migrants.

On Wednesday alone, ships from aid groups MOAS and Doctors Without Borders, as well as Frontex ships, arrived in Italian ports with the more than 10,000 migrants rescued in recent days.

"In the latest years smugglers often launched a massive number of boats all at the same time, but this year we are witnessing levels never registered before in short periods of time," Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri said in a statement.

Frontex said it hadn't had received any new instructions about offloading migrants in Italy. The Italian coast guard reported that at least 2,400 migrants were due to arrive on Thursday aboard both Frontex and aid group rescue ships in ports in Sicily and mainland Italy.