Video: U.S. Navy Destroyer Rescues Iranian Dhow

Last week, the crew of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill rescued a disabled Iranian dhow in the Arabian Sea. 

While she was on patrol in the region under the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) maritime security initiative, Churchill encountered encountered a drifting Iranian-flagged dhow. The down signaled to Churchill via flashing light that it was in distress.

When hailed over bridge-to-bridge radio, the vessel’s crew explained that their engine would not start because of a dead battery. They said that they had run out of food and water while adrift.

The Churchill’s boarding team headed over to the dhow in a RIB and conducted a brief inspection, and they handed up emergency food and water supplies for the crew. The team kept to the Navy's COVID-19 social distancing, face covering and glove protocol to reduce the odds of transmission between vessels.

After an inspection, Churchill's crew determined that they did not have the type of battery that the dhow needed to start its engine, so they requested assistance from the Oman Coast Guard. Churchill stayed on scene until Omani authorities arrived to provide more help. 

The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) is a multinational maritime security partnership founded to fight piracy, smuggling and other non-state-actor threats in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. It has the participation of 33 partner nations, and it is headquartered at 5th Fleet's base in Bahrain.