Tag: search and rescue operation

They rescued a group of Pakistani fishermen after they were captured by pirates City sailors and Royal Marines have rescued a group of Pakistani fishermen after they were captured by pirates off the Somali coast.In a daring mission Royal Marines from Devonport-based HMS Somerset boarded a large fishing dhow being used by the pirates as a 'mothership' for launching armed raids on merchant shipping.The pirates had previously seized the Pakistani fishermen's trawler.HMS Somerset is in the region conducting maritime security operations.The Type 23 frigate's Captain, Commander Paul Bristowe, ordered the attack after HMS Somerset's Merlin helicopter had shadowed the suspect vessel in the Indian Ocean.A boarding party of marines brought the Pakistani crew to safety after the pirates - armed with machine guns - surrendered without firing a shot. The raiders were then transferred to a US warship in the area.The successful mission by HMS Somerset was the second in a week where British forces had intervened in a pirate raid on vulnerable vessels.Source: Plymouth Herald

All 23 crew members are now safe A sea captain from near Newport has helped in the rescue of an Italian cargo ship in the Indian Ocean after it was attacked and seized by pirates.The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Fort Victoria, under the command of 53-year-old Captain Shaun Jones, from Haughton, near Gnosall, rescued the cargo ship, off the coast of Somalia.Pirates grabbed the ship on Monday, but the crew took refuge in a secure area and called for help.Capt Jones and his crew of 250 joined forces from the US Navy and rescued the crew after the 11 pirates on board surrendered and were arrested.All 23 crew members of the Montecristo cargo ship, seven Italians, six Ukrainians and 10 Indians, are now safe. Capt Jones, whose wife, Stephanie, is a solicitor, joined the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as a deck cadet in 1974, aged 16.He studied for professional qualifications at the Plymouth School of Maritime Studies and after becoming an officer served on several ships, including on the Sir Tristram during the Falklands War in 1982, in which the ship was heavily damaged and eventually abandoned after action.He was promoted to captain in December 2000 and has since commanded several ...

Death toll rises to seven Rescue teams in Taiwan were still looking for survivors from the "Jui Hsing" off the northern port of Keelung.Three more bodies were discovered washed ashore, bringing the number of confirmed dead to seven after the freighter ran aground.Eleven crew members were either rescued or swam to safety. The search for three more sailors who were still listed as missing has recently been hampered by bad weather.The wreck was followed by an emergency cleanup operation by environmental authorities as they worried that hundreds of tones of oil may have leaked into the sea from the vessel's fuel tanks.Workers used booms and absorbents to clean up the shoreline threatened by an oil slick.Source: Vesseltracker

Maritime Safety Queensland investigates the grounding of the passenger ferry Maritime Safety Queensland is investigating the grounding of a passenger ferry in Redland Bay off Brisbane.Bay Islands Transit System says no-one was hurt when the ferry Jumpipin hit a sand bar near Garden Island at about 7:30am (AEST).The company's area manager Debbie Wilson says it took about two hours to transfer all 98 people on board to another ferry to continue their journey onto the Redland Bay mainland."It was quite a smooth operation - life jackets were available and it was very shallow water." she said.She says the experienced captain and the crew will be interviewed to determine what went wrong.Ms Wilson says the Jumpinpin should be refloated around 3:00pm (AEST) prior to the high tide at about 5:00pm (AEST)."There will be no interruption to service," Ms Wilson said."We have spare ferries."Police Inspector Peter Harding says it is unusual for a ferry to run aground before low tide."At the moment the conditions are very calm but there is a falling tide," he said."The ferry is expected to remain stranded for some time."Source: ABC News

The ship broke into two pieces and all the crew members jumped into the rough water Seven crew members remained missing Monday morning after a gravel ship ran aground off Keelung Harbor in northern Taiwan around midnight in stormy weather, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA).Three of the 14 other crew members from the Jui Hsing showed no signs of life when they were rescued, but the others were not seriously hurt, CGA officials said.The missing crew members include the four Taiwanese nationals who were aboard the vessel, the officials said.Eight of the crewmen are Myanmar citizens and nine are Indonesians, according to CGA information.The CGA has decided to send more large patrol ships to search for the seven missing sailors, since inclement weather has hindered airborne rescue efforts, the officials said.CGA Minister Wang Chin-wang went to Keelung early in the morning to coordinate the rescue operations. As of the press time, five CGA vessels had been dispatched for the rescue mission and some CGA personnel had also joined police and firefighters in the search of the missing crew members.According to CGA data, the 11,500-ton gravel ship set off from Keelung late Sunday for China to collect a cargo ...

64 passengers spent nearly two days in lifeboats before all were rescued The safety of the approximately 700 sail-training vessels in the world's oceans has been called into question by a probe into the sinking of a Canadian ship off Brazil.The tall-ship Concordia capsized and went down in February, 2010. The 64 passengers, teachers and crew spent nearly two days in lifeboats before all were rescued.According to a report issued on Thursday by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, the ship went over and filled with seawater because the officer of the watch was unaware of the danger as a gust of wind approached. He did not reduce sail, change course or order places where water could enter to be sealed.The report showed that the officer was not trained on Concordia's squall curves, crucial information about the handling and stability of the ship. The material was available on board, but the TSB said the officer was unfamiliar with it and was able to get his certification without learning it.The board found that the lack of such a requirement is universal. It is calling for Canada to take a lead role in pushing for beefed-up training for all countries that register ...

The overcrowded ship ran into a sand pile dug by a nearby dredge On Sept. 9, a shipwreck occurred in Shaoyang County, Hunan Province. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlledmedia refused to report on the tragedy.According to locals and netizens, 63 bodies were found washed up on shore, on the morning of Sept. 10.It was reported that the overcrowded ship ran into a sand pile dug by a nearby dredger. Thus, it is impossible for local officials to escape responsibility.

A worldwide challenge

Pirates set fire attempting to force them out of their confinement NATO's counter piracy flag ship, Italian Ship (ITS) Andrea Doria, rescued the crew of M/V Pacific Express, 180 nautical miles off the coast of Kenya. M/V Pacific Express had reported being under pirate attack on September 20, 2011.ITS Andrea Doria responded to the distress call and closed in on M/V Pacific Express during the night of September 20. After evaluating the situation, the NATO warship assessed that pirates were no longer on board. As heavy smoke was coming out of the M/V, ITS Andrea Doria decided to send a boarding team to evacuate the crew and rescued all 26 crewmembers (25 Filipinos and 1 Ukrainian) who had locked themselves inside the safety zone of the merchant ship.According to the crew, the fire was the result of the pirates' attempts to force them out of their confinement. They also reported hearing gun shots and possibly a RPG being fired during their time in the safety zone. They suffered no injuries and are now being transferred to Mombasa.ITS Andrea Doria has been engaged in Operation "Ocean Shield" to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia under the command of Rear Admiral ...

Four Americans and a Briton who claimed to be on a rescue mission of a pirated ship were detained Mozambique's police briefly detained four Americans and a Briton who claimed to be on a rescue mission of a pirated ship in the Indian ocean, a spokesman said Saturday.The group brought 750 rounds of ammunition for FN 5.5mm rifles, radio transmitters and chargers without the necessary permits into the southern African country through the airport in the northern city of Nampula on Thursday, police spokesman Joao Dina said."They said they were taking the equipment to rescue a ship taken by pirates in Indian waters," Dina told AFP.Police could not say which ship the group was planning to rescue.The leader of the group was identified as 42-year-old US citizen Michael Ferguson.Claiming to work for private marine security group GreySide, the group said they had traveled from the United States to Ethiopia.They entered Mozambique on a flight from Kenya and were planning to travel to Mozambique's northernmost city Pemba, where they would take a small boat to a search ship 12 miles off the coast, said Dina.Police released the men on Friday evening and their equipment was transported to the US embassy in ...