Sailors from Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Charlottetown provided medical assistance to local fishermen in the Gulf of Aden, May 16.
The Canadian ship was operating with Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150) when the fishing vessel hailed them, requesting medical assistance.
“The vessel hailed us requesting medical assistance for one of their crewmembers, as we were about to depart the area,” said Commander Wade Carter, Commanding Officer of HMCS Charlottetown.
Charlottetown sent members of their boarding party team, a physician’s assistant, and an interpreter in their rigid-hulled-inflatable boat (RHIB) to provide the proper medical assistance.
“I wish I could have done more for him,” said Warrant Officer Gino Short, Physician Assistant on HMCS Charlottetown. “His eye was infected, so I provided antibiotic eye drops. I also advised him to seek additional medical treatment as soon as possible.”
“These type of good will approach operations are important, because they show the local mariners that we care,” said Cdr Carter. “In return, the relationships that we build are critical to achieving mission success and CTF-150 goals, because they provide us with invaluable information that allows us to track illicit activities in the region.”
CTF-150’s mission is to promote maritime security in order to counter terrorist acts and related illegal activities, which terrorists use to fund or conceal their movements.
CTF-150 is one of three task forces operated by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). CMF is a 26 nation naval partnership, which exists to promote security, stability and prosperity across approximately 2.5 million square miles of international waters covering the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean; an area which encompasses some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.
Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) 