Operation Sophia in rescue action
In the early hours of Tuesday 29thDecember 2015 the EH101 helicopter belonging to the Eunavfor Med flagship Garibaldi, spotted two rubber boats in international waters coming from the Libyan Coast.
The Royal Navy warship HMS Enterprise, following the request of the competent Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, was tasked to intervene in favor of the migrants dangerously sailing on board the two vessels.
As a result, 188 migrants were rescued; among them 18 females, 2 of whom are pregnant.
Since the beginning of its duty within Eunavfor Med in July 2015, HMS Enterprise, has rescued over 2600 migrants.
HMS Enterprise finally rendezvoused with the MSF (Medicine Sans Frontieres) merchant ship MV Bourbon Argos in order to hand over the migrants and be again available for her institutional tasks.
The EU naval operation against human smugglers and traffickers in the Mediterranean called “EUNAVFOR MED operation SOPHIA”, was launched on the 22 of June, 2015, with the main focus on contributing to disrupt the business model of the smugglers and therefore prevent more loss of lives.
