MANAMA: A South Korean warship rescued four British sailors left adrift in the Gulf of Aden after their vessel’s engine failed, a multinational naval partnership said Wednesday.

The navy destroyer “responded after Combined Maritime Forces... was notified of a distress call from the stranded mariners”, the CMF naval coalition said in a statement.

The ship rescued three of the sailors and “contacted a nearby merchant vessel to provide medical assistance” to the fourth, it said, adding that the rescue took place on Sunday. The four Britons were transferred to Oman on Monday “for additional medical care and repatriation”, the statement added.

“This rescue is the true manifestation of professionalism and close coordination between international partners,” Pakistan Navy Commodore Ahmed Hussain, commander of a counter-piracy task force that works under the CMF, said in the statement.

The CMF comprises 34 nations whose vessels patrol 3.2 million square miles of international waters, including important shipping lanes. It is headquartered in Bahrain.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2022