Navy is to gift a ship to Malta

The Government is to gift one of its Naval Service ships to the Maltese to help them cope with the ongoing refugee crisis in the Mediterranean and is planning to deploy Irish ships on an EU anti-piracy missions off Somalia.

Defence Minister Simon Coveney agreed to give the recently decommissioned LÉ Aoife to Malta following a meeting in Latvia with his Maltese counterpart, Carmelo Abela.

“The Maltese authorities require the ship for their armed forces to assist in the patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea to deal with the ongoing difficult refugee crisis in the region. Recent tragic events in that part of the Mediterranean have underlined the significant challenges which need to be addressed by the international community and Ireland is very keen to play an active part in this regard,” Mr Coveney said.