Irish naval ship departs for EU mission in Mediterranean

An Irish naval ship has departed for a European Union (EU) mission in the Mediterranean to fight against human trafficking and rescue migrants, reported local media RTE on Sunday.

LE Samuel Beckett, a war ship of the Irish Naval Service, departed from a harbor in the country's southern coastal city of Cork for a joint EU mission coded Operation Sophia on Sunday morning, said the report.

The ship, with a crew of 54 members under the command of Lieutenant Commander Eoin Smyth, will be authorized to identify, capture and dispose of vessels involved in human trafficking in an area of the south-central Mediterranean, it said.

The ship was seen off by the Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces, Vice Admiral Mark Mellet at the Naval Service Headquarters in Cork Harbour, according to the report.

LE Samuel Beckett is a 90-meter-long state-of-the-art offshore patrol vessel of the Irish Naval Service. The ship is the first among the Irish naval fleet, which is named after the famous Irish novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

LE Samuel Beckett is the first Irish naval ship to be dispatched for Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean this year, said the report.