Pakistan Navy vessel rescues 41 passengers of Yemeni dhow =

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Navy vessel has plucked 41 people to safety after a Yemeni dhow carrying 60 passengers sunk in the Gulf of Aden. The search for other passengers is still under way.

PNS Shamsheer was operating as a part of the Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151), an international Coalition Task Force formed under the UN’s mandate to counter piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

Commodore Shoaib of Pakistan Navy is the current commander of the Combined Task Force 151. Upon receiving information about the sinking of a dhow carrying 60 people, the headquarters of CTF-151 dispatched a surveillance aircraft to locate the survivors.

At the same time, PNS Shamsheer was tasked for search and rescue operations. The operation also involved the naval ships of Spain and Australia with embarked helicopters aided by the land-based aircraft from Japan and Germany.

This is not the first time that a Pakistan Navy ship has rendered its services in this way.  Previously during the deployment, PNS Shamsheer offered medical assistance to the crew members of a cattle dhow named Al Amir, while it was transporting livestock from Somalia to Oman.

On November 26, medical assistance was also offered to a Somali dhow Fais-e-Sale  Mohammadi in the Gulf of Aden area.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2016.