LÉ James Joyce rescues 128 migrants near Tripoli

The LÉ James Joyce has successfully rescued 128 migrants from a rubber craft located 37 nautical miles northwest of Tripoli, Libya.

The rescue commenced at 6.30am on Tuesday and all migrants were on board the Naval Service vessel by 9.20am, where they were given food, water and medical treatment.

The migrants will be transported to a port of safety and transferred to the Italian authorities.

The vessel departed from Haulbowline in Cork earlier this month to carry out humanitarian duty in the Mediterranean.

The 60-strong crew are under the command of Lt Cmdr Neil Manning. They trained for two months for the mission.

Operation Pontus

The LÉ James Joyce is the fifth ship deployed by the Naval Service to the Mediterranean as part of Operation Pontus, which covers humanitarian missions in the region.

The LÉ Róisín returned to Haulbowline last Friday after having rescued 1,263 refugees in search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean.