USS Hue City Rescues Dhow Crew in Gulf of Oman

The United States Navy, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, 5th Fleet, reports that the USS Hue City (CG 64), a guided-missile cruiser, has rescued six crew members of a sinking Pakistani dhow.

The rescue took place yesterday in the Gulf of Oman when the Hue City received a distress call from the Omani Coast Guard. It radioed that the dhow was in trouble.

Hue City responded, taking the stranded crew on board. It is likely that it dispatched its VBSS boat, Visit, Board, Search and Seizure. The boat is dispatched to check out other ships and boats in a dangerous area. The picture shows Hue City's VBSS team visiting a small craft in another situation, not this particular rescue.

All six of the rescued seamen were in good shape, and given medical treatment, water and food. They were then transported to the PNS Barbur (F 182), a Pakistani frigate that is part of coalition forces in the Gulf.

The dhow is no more, having sunk into the depths of the Gulf.

Pakistan Navy Commodore Khan Hasham Bin Saddique commands Combined Task Force 150, made up of ships from various European and Gulf nations, and the US, based in Bahrain. The force patrols, enforces security, and assists distressed vessels. The command rotates periodically between member nations.

Its area of operation features some threats from Somali pirates, and terrorist supply routes are known to run through these waters. That is why the VBSS teams get a lot of work, which can be dangerous, so in well defined cases, like counter-terrorism work, the crews are supposed to get hazardous duty pay.

The crews are well trained at boarding other ships and searching them for contraband, and they are well armed.

Nevertheless, some time ago a Royal Navy team was held by the Iranians for a few weeks. Since that time, teams are dispatched with helicopter air cover and backed up by the mother ship. The British team did not have that backing.

This is not the first rescue that the Hue City has made in the area. Back in 2005 it picked up five sailors in a raft after a ship called the Global Island went down off of the coast of Somalia.

Hue City is an Aegis, Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser, designed, when it is not saving people on the high seas, to provide air and missile defense for aircraft carrier task forces or troop carrier groups. It has missiles designed to intercept incoming missiles, and Gatling guns to pick off close-in threats.

USS Hue City Rescues Crew, USN