Her Majesty’s Australian Ship (HMAS) Melbourne, working for Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, came to the aid of a critically ill merchant seaman in the southern Arabian Sea.
The vessel was responding to a Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) call from the Merchant Vessel (MV) City of Beijing, which required life-saving aid for a critically ill seaman. HMAS Melbourne rendezvoused with MV City of Beijing at first light on 20 September 2015, in the southern Arabian Sea, nearly halfway between the Horn of Africa and India.
HMAS Melbourne dispatched her Medical Officer and several of her ships’ company in a sea boat, allowing them to board the merchant ship and to assess the patient.
Lieutenant Tenille Chapman, HMAS Melbourne’s Medical Officer, said she was taken to a middle-age mariner who was in need of immediate medical assistance.
MV City of Beijing is now making best possible speed to Mumbai, and HMAS Melbourne has returned to conduct maritime security operations patrolling with the multinational Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).
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Image: CMF