Another 900 desperate migrants has been rescued by Royal Navy sailors, this desperate migrants who has been making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Italy.
A total of 914
migrants were picked up from overcrowded boats by Royal Marines and sailors as
smuggling gangs took advantage of calm seas over the weekend.
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Two of Britain's Merlin helicopters identified three
'vessels in distress' early on Saturday.
315 of those fleeing Libya were picked up by Bulwark
directly and the remainder were transferred from other foreign vessels for the
large ship to take to Italy.
They were then dropped off in Taranto, Italy, on Monday.
Many of them will now continue their journey to Northern Europe.
Some of them will likely end up in Calais, where they will
then attempt to jump on the back of lorries and make their way to England.
The rescue comes as it was announced that HMS Bulwark will
be replaced next month by the survey vessel HMS Enterprise.
A handover will take place during the next few days, before
the ship begins its journey back to England for maintenance.
The ship is only half the size of the 19,000-ton Bulwark and
can only rescue 120 migrants at any one time. Bulwark could rescue as many as
1,000 migrants in one operation.
Two Merlin helicopters which have been used to locate the
overcrowded boats will also return, leaving just one helicopter to fly off a
partner boat.
Bulwark's replacement marks a significant scaling down of
British efforts to rescue migrants making the dangerous journey.
However, it is expected that the Italian navy will send its
Flagship, Cavour, a large aircraft carrier, to pick up migrants and make up for
the reduced UK capability.
Defence Secretary
Michael Fallon spoke at the weekend of a new phase in the mission to help
prevent the migrant crisis.
He said the UK needed
to 'get to the grips' with the problem and build up 'better intelligence' on
the smuggling gangs making money from the trade.
Elite forces will be sent in to smash the trafficking gangs,
it is understood. Under plans drawn up by ministers, the SAS will work with
specialist forces from other EU countries to help pinpoint the leaders of the
ruthless gangs, the vessels they are using and the routes taken.
As part of the intelligence gathering, GCHQ eavesdroppers on
the smaller ship will pinpoint smuggling gangs so that she can intercept their
vessels.
Enterprise, which evacuated Britons from Libya last year as
post Gaddafi violence escalated, is armed with 20mm cannon and machine guns.
The vessel has already been working to tackle pirates from
Somalia in the Gulf of Aden. Navy chiefs have estimated some half a millions
people are waiting to make the dangerous journey to Europe.
The huge rescue operation this weekend came after 1,200
migrants were rescued in one day alone by the huge ship. They were plucked from
nine vessels in June - six of them rubber dinghies.
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