KARACHI, Jan 4: Commander of Pakistan Fleet Vice-Admiral Mohammad Haroon has said that the whole nation is proud of the crew of Navy ships Tariq and Nasr for performing an excellent job in extending humanitarian help to the tsunami victims in the Maldives.

He was addressing the two ships' crew at a ceremony held onboard PNS Tariq after their return on Tuesday from the Maldives. Vice-Admiral said though the ship has a capacity of accommodating only 400 people, the crew allowed in many more.

Later, Mission Commander Commodore Asif Sandila while gave a a briefing about the relief operation to journalists. He said that their ships had arrived in the Maldives on December 25 but due to the Christmas holiday, they had no official commitments on that day.

The next day, they held a meeting with the chiefs of the National Security Services and Coast Guard during which they were apprised of the devastation caused by tsunami.

He said that using boats and helicopters, the relief and rescue operation was launched by the PN ships' crew which faced a lot of difficulties due to the collapsed communication system. "However, we overcame the problem by using our satellite phone,'' he added.

Commodore Sandila said that may foreign tourists had been rescued and shifted to safer places during the operation. Medical assistance had also been provided to the needy, he said.

He said that at one point, the entire deck of the PNS Tariq had been occupied by the disaster-hit people receiving emergency medical assistance from doctors. The ship's captain, Amjad Niazi, also spoke to the journalists. -APP