US Navy ship rescues 7 in Bahrain waters
Occupants of two skiffs on leisure fishing trip requested assistance during hailstorm
Manama: Seven Bahrainis were rescued from two fishing boats by a US Navy ship during a hailstorm off the coast of Bahrain.
The occupants of the two small fishing skiffs were spotted on Monday morning waving for help about 55.56 kilometres northeast of Bahrain.
“Everything happened so fast,” Charles Linton, an information systems technician on the US naval vessel said. “I was on security detail when we received word of the vessels needing assistance. The boats came close enough to the ship so that we could throw them a line and pull them alongside. We eventually used the accommodation ladder to bring the fishermen aboard the USS Ponce.”
The Bahrainis were on a leisure fishing trip when the storm set in unexpectedly in the vicinity of their boats.
“The wind became so strong, and then ice and rain started to come down hard,” said Syed Saleh, a sales executive who was among those rescued. “We saw the navy ship and we knew we only had one choice since the weather was so bad. All of us waved our hands, white cloths and started yelling for help. We did our best to get close to the ship.”
Allison Rogers, a deck hand aboard the USS Ponce, said that they were glad they could rescue the Bahrainis. “As soon as they came aboard we made sure they had food, water, warm clothes and blankets.”
The USS Ponce returned to port in Bahrain at 2.10 pm towing the two fishing boats. The fishing vessels were transferred to the Royal Bahraini Coast Guard once the US vessel moored in Bahrain, the US Navy said.
“The US Navy Fifth Fleet contributes to security and stability in the Gulf on an enduring basis,” Vice-Admiral John Miller, the commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, said. “When our presence puts us in a position to render aid to mariners in distress, it validates the importance of our 60-year partnership with the kingdom of Bahrain,” he said.
The USS Ponce is the US Navy’s versatile mine countermeasures platform that was recently used in the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2012.
“The crew took care of us and of our boats. I could not be more grateful,” Saleh said.
