The boarding squad of the Spanish Navy frigate ‘Cristóbal Colón’ (F-105) visited a ‘dhow’-type fishing boat north of the IRTC (Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor) in the Arabian Sea.
The Spanish frigate’s medical team provided the required medical assistance to different fishermen who were sick, and they were also given the necessary medicines.
These types of visits known as ‘Maritime Situational Awareness Visits’ (MSAV) are regularly carried out as part of operation ‘Ocean Shield’. They serve to make NATO’s presence more visible, provide information to ships and trawlers in the area on pirate activities, and supply local vessels with water and medicines whenever the vessels’ captains request such assistance and allow boarding squads to visit their vessels.
[mappress] Press Release, May 28, 2014; Image: Wikimedia