Assault Ship Rescues Turkish Container Ship Crew
The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) received a distress call on Saturday, and when Bataan's Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter arrived on-scene in the Aegean Sea the Hellenic Coast Guard was responding to a grounded Turkish flagged container vessel, Yusuf Cepnioglu. The SAR team observed the Turkish vessel listing.
Upon request for assistance, the aircraft lowered a rescue swimmer and recovered two Turkish mariners and returned to Bataan. The rescued mariners were assessed by Bataan's medical team, and were transferred to the Hellenic Coast Guard. The Bataan Amphibious Readiness Group is on a scheduled deployment supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations.