HMS Bulwark Completes Transportation Of 1,200 Rescued Migrants
15Royal Navy warship HMS Bulwark has safely transported 1,200 migrants that were rescued from the Mediterranean Sea.
The ship docked at Catania, Sicily, where the migrants were handed over to the Italian authorities.
The rescue was the ship's biggest since joining the international aid effort in the Mediterranean.
The migrants spent the night on board after being rescued off the coast of Libya.
The operation, which began in the early hours after a number of suspected migrant boats were spotted by Bulwark's Merlin helicopters, rescued children as young as two from nine heavily-crowded boats.
She was called to assist seven boats, while other European navies earlier rescued 3,000 migrants.
The UN estimates at least 40,000 people have tried to make the crossing since the start of the year.
HMS Bulwark's commander, meanwhile, says the people traffickers behind the current crisis are committing acts "tantamount to murder".
Forces TV's Rebecca Ricks went aboard the ship as she continues her work on Operation Weald.