Navy Ship Involved In Rescue Of 500 Migrants

Royal Navy warship HMS Bulwark is involved in a mission to rescued at least 500 refugees floating adrift in boats off Libya.

The vessel raced to the area as part of a multi-national operation amid intelligence reports of 14 craft carrying migrants in open water.

It comes as a senior naval officer said up to half a million migrants are gathering on Libya's border to try and make the treacherous crossing to mainland Europe.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has already warned migration could be attempted on a colossal scale "if Europe does not get together and start tackling the problem much further back".

He added: "In the short-term, we need more ships from other European navies to come and help here.

"We need to pool more intelligence, we need to find out who is doing this trafficking, how they are making money from it, and we need to go back and smash the gangs involved."

HMS Bulwark was sent to help tackle the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean after more than 800 people died on a boat travelling from Libya in April.

The migration surge has been caused in part by the Libyan civil war, which has allowed people smugglers to work virtually unimpeded.

There have also been an increasing number of illegal boat journeys from Egypt and Turkey.

In recent weeks, the warship has intercepted several stricken boats as they made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.

On 30 May, Bulwark rescued 741 people - including dozens of "horrifyingly young" children - from overcrowded, rickety vessels.

At the time, the flagship's Commanding Officer, Captain Nick Cooke-Priest, said he was sure the migrants would have died without help.