LÉ Samuel Beckett rescues 102 migrants

LÉ Samuel Beckett brought aboard 102 migrants off the coast of Libya yesterday, bringing her total of rescued people to 344 to date, and the Naval Services total rescues in the Mediterranean Sea to 7,741 people.

At around 6am Irish time, the crew was called to a dinghy 50km north west of Tripoli, which contained 100 adults and two minors.

They took them onboard, and provided food, water, and medical attention where required.

The ship was steaming towards the Sicilian port of Catania last night where she was to off-load the recused migrants.

At 6am Irish time the #LÉSAMUELBECKETT rescued 102 ppl including 2minors off inflatable craft 50kms NW of Tripoli pic.twitter.com/himHXiLOsF

— Óglaigh na hÉireann (@defenceforces) October 15, 2015

After taking on supplies, the ship was due to head back to her operations area.

LÉ Samuel Beckett will remain on the Mediterranean Sea until the end of next week.

It is expected that by then the weather will have deteriorated to such an extent it is unlikely that people smugglers will continue to send migrants out into the Mediterranean Sea.