Illustrious in daring Indian Ocean rescue

[Anth]

A Royal Navy warship on Coalition maritime security operations in the Indian Ocean has successfully conducted a rescue operation of a stricken fishing vessel 60 miles east of the Horn of Africa.

A Merlin helicopter from HMS Illustrious locates the stricken vessel.
[Picture: Royal Navy]

Late on the evening of 21 June 2006 the Fleet Flagship and high readiness aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, commanded by Captain Bob Cooling, was alerted through the regional Maritime Commander and Joint Search Rescue Centre (JRSC) in Illinois, USA, of a fishing vessel in distress off the Yemeni island of Abd Al Kuri 60 miles off the coast of Somalia.

Two of Illustrious’ Merlin helicopters were sent to the island at the request of the Yemeni authorities early this morning, Thursday 22 June, to search for the fishing vessel. The lead Merlin, one of the Navy’s newest and most capable aircraft, touched down during a force seven gale near a military settlement on the island. There a local Yemeni military commander embarked and directed the mission to a fishing boat which was precariously positioned in an inlet, surrounded by steep cliffs and crashing waves.

The island is sparsely populated (approximately 300 inhabitants) with little vegetation or shelter. Rocky mountains rise from sandy beaches on the east of the island reaching some 1800 feet along the main mountain feature. On the south side sheer cliffs drop straight into the Indian Ocean, just where the fishing vessel was floundering.

Closing in; the Merlin gets in closer as it attempts to rescue the fishermen.
[Picture: Royal Navy]

In extremely challenging and dangerous conditions the decision was taken to return both aircraft to the carrier in order to refuel before being re-launched to conduct a winch transfer of the two endangered fishermen on the stricken boat. However, the worsening sea state and the limited deck space available on the fishing boat made such a rescue too dangerous.

So Illustrious repositioned herself to enable a second rescue attempt to be made using the ship’s boats. These were used to transfer food, water and fuel to the fishing vessel and provide an engineering team to attempt to repair its engine. A medical team also treated the fishermen, who were suffering from dehydration having been stranded for some time.

Once the Royal Navy team had successfully completed the repair, the fishing vessel was able to make her own way out of the danger zone with Illustrious standing by to provide further assistance if required.


HMS Illustrious spokesman Lieutenant Commander Toby Evison said:

"The ship’s boats were launched and attended the stricken vessel in very difficult sea conditions. The vessel was found to have two crew on board, while two other crew members had attempted to swim ashore and had not been seen since entering the rough seas and are still missing.

"Medical assistance was provided to the remaining crew members, particularly for dehydration after being stranded without water for a considerable period of time. Additional food and water was provided along with mechanical assistance including a new battery, clean diesel and basic engine repairs. The vessel is now seaworthy and the crew intend to return to Yemen without further assistance.

"The operation to assist the fishermen was truly a whole ship effort, with all pulling together in the unforgiving environment of the sea to save the lives of fellow sea farers."

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