Fourteen Indian mariners were rescued in the Northern Arabian Sea after a distress call prompted a search-and-rescue operation involving US Navy aircraft and personnel, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday.
“Upon receiving a distress call from the stranded mariners at approximately 2 a.m. EST (11:30 am IST), a US Navy P-8 aircraft was first on scene, responded by dropping a search and rescue kit that included a life raft, which the 14 mariners boarded,” the Central Command statement said.
According to CENTCOM, Motor Vessel (M/V) Jabal Ali 9 later reached the location and successfully recovered 11 crew members from the life raft.
“An MH-60S Sea Hawk, assigned to Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), rescued three additional mariners after their life raft capsized in the rough seas. The three mariners were transported to M/V Jabal Ali 9, where they were in good health and spirits,” the Centcom said.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) also responded to the distress call, it added.
The rescue took place in the US 5th Fleet area of operations, which spans nearly 2.5 million square miles of water and covers the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean, and the strategic maritime chokepoints of the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal and Bab al-Mandeb.