Dozens of suspected asylum seekers have been intercepted after their boat arrived in Australian waters.

The ABC has been told the unauthorised boat arrival was detected early on Thursday morning, with the people smuggling vessel destroyed by bad weather.

The group of 33 arrivals was initially taken to Christmas Island by the Australian Border Force (ABF) but has since been transferred to another offshore facility, understood to be Nauru.

A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil told the ABC "as is long standing practice, we do not confirm or comment on operational matters".

Earlier this month five men believed to be from the West African nation of Senegal were caught crossing illegally into Australia on a small dinghy in Far North Queensland.

Last month a group of asylum seekers was able to reach the Australian mainland in remote north-western Western Australia, before being eventually transferred to the regional processing centre on Nauru.

In April the ABC's 7:30 program detailed how the Chinese arrivals walked ashore and entered the Truscott-Mungalalu Airbase apparently undetected.

According to monthly reports for Operation Sovereign Borders, a total of 39 unauthorised maritime arrivals (UMAs) came to Australia in February while an attempted Vietnamese people smuggling venture was disrupted during March.

Australian authorities intercepted another 12 UMAs in November from a people smuggling operation, who were then transferred to an offshore regional processing centre.