A boat carrying 105 asylum seekers capsized north of the Australian territory of Christmas Island today. The boat sank about 220 kilometres north of Christmas Island, where Australia operates a detention camp for asylum seekers.

According to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman, a Navy vessel is now conducting a rescue operation with support from a Customs Dash-8 aircraft. This is the first reported boat accident in Australian waters since Labor announced its new asylum seeker policy in late July.