THE guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S Churchill, operating under the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), provided assistance to a motor vessel in distress in the Arabian Sea.
The Iranian-flagged dhow’s crew said their engine would not start due to a dead battery and they had run out of food and water.
The Churchill’s boarding team approached the dhow and provided the mariners with food. However, they did not have the type of battery required for the vessel and hence requested assistance from the Oman Coast Guard.
Churchill team remained on scene until Omani authorities arrived for further assistance.
The 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea outlines the obligation of all mariners, regardless of nationality, to provide assistance to those in distress at sea.
The CMF is a multinational maritime partnership which exists to counter illicit non-state actors on the high seas and promote security in the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman.
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