Slovenia offered the ship to help Italy tackle the refugee crisis on Lampedusa, the destination of thousands of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East, in the aftermath of a ship capsizing that left over 360 refugees dead.

The Slovenian ship, which can take on board 80 or more people in emergencies, will remain in action until the end of January next year and patrol the delegated waters east of Sicily. Any refugees will be handed to the Italian authorities, according to contingent commander Andrej Pečar.

A total of 41 troops will take part in the mission, a crew of 33-35 aboard the Triglav and the rest at mission headquarters in Augusta.

After completing its mission in the waters around Lampedusa, the Triglav will return to Slovenia to get ready for deployment in the UN's mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the second half of the year.

The Triglav is a Svetlyak-class patrol boat which Slovenia got from Russia in 2010 as an offset for Soviet-era debt. It is 49 metres long, 9.2 metres wide and has a top speed of 27 knots.

The cost of the mission is estimated at half a million euros.