WATERFORD's twinned naval vessel, the LE James Joyce, rescued the lives of 541 migrants off the coast of Libya last weekend, bringing the ship's total save to 2,242 since its deployment to the Mediterranean on July 16th last.
The ship, which was twinned with Waterford City in January 2016 following the decommissioning of the LE Aoife, is now on it's second patrol of Mediterranean waters.
The number of those making the journey from north Africa has increased steadily over the past twelve months, while the wooden vessels traditionally used to make the journey have been replaced by dangerous rubber dinghys - a factor that has increased the rate of incidents its crew have been forced to deal with.
Speaking to RTÉ, Lieutenant Mike Brunicardi of the Naval Service's Operational Command Centre stated: "the risk of these vessels puncturing and sinking is far greater - this weekend alone the LE James Joyce's crews had to react quickly to one of these rubber boats which sunk, forcing migrants into the water."
The figures follow a statement released by the Irish Naval service earlier this summer which stated that it had saved the lives of over 10,00 migrants since its initial deployment in May, 2015.
