Naval Service flagship LÉ Eithne has saved more migrants’ lives after picking up the occupants of a small fibreglass boat who had run out of food, water and fuel five days into an attempted crossing of the Mediterranean Sea.

LÉ Eithne was steaming towards the Sicilian port of Palermo last night with 410 migrants she had rescued from the Mediterranean Sea.

A baby, several women, and children were among 201 migrants crammed into five flimsy inflatable vessels who were rescued by Naval Service flagship LÉ Eithne 60km north of Libya.

The Naval Service’s flagship LÉ Eithne is today steaming close to Gibraltar on her way to the Mediterranean, where she is being deployed to save migrants from drowning.

History will be made this morning when the Naval Service will for the first time aid in an overseas humanitarian mission.