By Lt.j.g. Courtney Thraen
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
INDIAN OCEAN - Crew members from guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen provided engineering and mechanical assistance to a vessel in distress in the Indian Ocean, June 15.
Momsen received a mayday distress call over the marine band radio and responded.
"It's every mariner's responsibility to render assistance to vessels in distress," said Momsen Commanding Officer Cmdr. Michael Sparks. "Although the initial details of the distress call were unclear, it was obvious the vessel was having problems."
Rapid response was necessary to locate the dhow and determine if a life-threatening situation existed, said Momsen's Executive Officer Lt. Cmdr. Scott Carpenter.
"We employed our SH-60B helicopter to conduct a nighttime search to identify the location of the dhow and determine the cause of the emergency," Carpenter said.
An SH-60B assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light located the vessel approximately 60 miles away from Momsen and identified the distress vessel as Al Ameer, a 50-meter Sambuq dhow, which was transporting more than 700 tons of charcoal.
"Once we spoke with the dhow, we knew they had a loss of propulsion and would require assistance for repairs. They also reported some flooding, but luckily they weren't in any danger of sinking," said Carpenter. "Although the vessel's dewatering pumps were operational, they could only prevent the water from rising, not run effectively enough to dewater the engine room."
Momsen's visit, board, search, and seizure team deployed in two rigid hull inflatable boats, or RHIBs, to render assistance.
The dhow's 16 crew members, welcomed the VBSS boarding team, though they faced a major language challenge.
"No Momsen crew members were fluent in Farsi, Arabic, Indian or Pakistani and no Al Ameer members were fluent in English," said Ensign Sean Jurgensen, VBSS boarding team
officer. "Despite that difficulty, we were able to make it work and our training and practice paid off. The VBSS team executed perfectly. Everyone already knew what to do."
Below decks on Al Ameer, VBSS members met with the cargo dhow's chief engineer, who pointed to each engineering casualty. Once the cause of the flooding was evaluated, a RHIB returned with a P-100 pump which is specifically designed for dewatering during flooding.
"Three of Momsen's VBSS members have engineering rates, which enabled them to safely align the P-100 pump in Al-Ameer's bilges and successfully discharge enough water overboard to enable Al Ameer's discharge pumps to maintain the water level in the bilges well below the equipment," Jurgensen said.
During the dewatering operation, Al Ameer's owner made arrangements for the cargo dhow to be towed to safety by a merchant ship. Once the engineering assistance was complete, Momsen's VBSS team donated drinking water and aspirin to Al Ameer before towing began.
"Rendering assistance to vessels in distress is an obligation of all mariners. I am glad we were available to help Al Ameer and her crew," Sparks said.
USS Momsen is part of the USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group, which is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of Maritime Security Operations. MSO help develop security in the maritime environment, which promotes stability and global prosperity. These operations complement the counterterrorism and security efforts of regional nations and seek to disrupt violent extremists' use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material.