On Saturday the Irish Navy’s LÉ NIAMH was tasked by the Italian Marine Rescue Co Ordination Centre (IMRCC) to investigate a sighting of three possible migrant vessels.
When the warship arrived on scene the vessel Seawatch was already there and had distributed lifejackets to migrants onboard one vessel.
LÉ NIAMH deployed rhibs (rigid hull inflatable boats) to take the migrants on board. A short time later two migrant craft were located approx 64km North of Tripoli and the LÉ NIAMH embarked all migrants from those vessels.
LÉ NIAMH had 329 rescued migrants on board who were receiving water, food and medical assistance where required. Conditions at the time were good with a slight swell.
The vessel then sailed to the port of Pozzallo to disembark the rescued migrants.
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Image: Irish Defence Forces