Operation OCEAN SHIELD flagship HNoMS FRIDTJOF NANSEN provided medical assistance to the villagers of Qandala, on the northern coast of Somalia on Thursday, 26 September 2013.
The medical assistance was arranged at a meeting between OCEAN SHIELD ship USS DE WERT and Qandala elders earlier in September. During the meeting, the elders addressed their needs for medical assistance, which they asked NATO to facilitate. This is the second time HNoMS FRIDTJOF NANSEN has provided medical assistance to Somalis.
The flagship set up a provisional hospital on the ship’s helicopter deck, equipped for doctor consultations, medical examinations, and treatment. A medical team including a surgeon, doctors and nurses examined and treated the visitors assisted by local medical personnel from Qandala.
“The medical assistance was very well received by the visiting villagers, and a rewarding moment for all the crewmembers involved in the event,” said Commodore Henning Amundsen, Commander of NATO’s counter-piracy Task Force 508 (CTF-508). “In addition to helping those in need, medical assistance builds trust and helps us to establish new contacts on shore who can be useful allies in countering the threat of piracy.”
[mappress] Press Release, October 1, 2013; Image: NATO ACO