An EH101 helicopter embarked on Op Sophia’s flagship, ITS Garibaldi, spotted two rubber boats in international waters during a patrol on December 29.
The rubber boats were sailing from the Lybian coast.
The Royal Navy warship HMS Enterprise was tasked by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center to intervene and take the migrants on board.
As a result, 188 migrants were rescued.
HMS Enterprise finally rendezvoused with the MSF (Medicine Sans Frontieres) merchant ship MV Bourbon Argos in order to hand over the migrants.
Since the beginning of its duty within Eunavfor Med in July 2015, HMS Enterprise has rescued over 2600 migrants.
The EU naval operation against human smugglers and traffickers in the Mediterranean called “EUNAVFOR MED operation SOPHIA”, was launched on June 22, 2015, with the main focus on contributing to disrupt the business model of the smugglers and prevent more loss of lives.
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