Navy en route to migrant rescue mission

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.

The vessel is expected to arrive in Italy next Saturday and immediately swing into action in a bid to save the lives of North African migrants being smuggled into southern Europe on flimsy craft, many of them dangerously unseaworthy.

The Naval Service has modified the helicopter deck of the 20-year-old vessel to accommodate as many refugees as possible and she will stay in the Mediterranean for two months, after which time she will be relieved by another Irish vessel.