UK's migrant rescue operation delayed

UK's Royal Navy's HMS Bulwark has been temporarily prevented from joining the European Union's Operation Triton whose aim is to carry out search-and-rescue missions for migrants lost in the Mediterranean.

Although UK Prime Minister David Cameron promised his country would send the Bulwark to Italian shores, the deployment has been postponed, following the country's inability to agree with the Italian government whether migrants can be disembarked at Italian ports.

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This decision was made after the European Union's extraordinary meeting in Brussels held on 23 April , following the death of more than 800 migrants off the coast of Libya.

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Once we’ve got that agreement we’re there to work on search-and-rescue efforts

“We’re working through with the Italians about how it may be used, and once we’ve got that agreement we’re there to work on search-and-rescue efforts,” a Royal Navy spokesman said.