Irish naval vessel LÉ Eithne has rescued 201 migrants off the coast of Libya this afternoon.

The rescue operation was carried out in cooperation with Italian, German and British ships.

The migrants - men, women and children - were on five make-shift inflatable boats and were trying to cross the Mediterranean.

Members of the Irish Navy, wearing protective suits, deployed from the ship in their own rigid inflatable boat to meet the migrants’ vessels, which were packed to capacity with men women and some children.

The LÉ Eithne crew gave the migrants food, water and first aid at the scene.

They will be transferred to the British navy vessel HMS Bulwark before being brought ashore in Italy.

The LÉ Eithne joined the humanitarian rescue operation in the Mediterranean earlier this month.

Footage of LÉ Eithne personnel involved in the rescue of migrants off the coast of Libya https://t.co/7nme1sjm5r — RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 28, 2015

The rescue took place 60km off the coast of Libya and was the first such engagement for the 70 crew of the LÉ Eithne since they arrived in the Mediterranean on their 10-week mission to tackle the migrant crisis.