USNS Millinocket Saves Life in Honiara, Solomon Islands

The quick reactions of personnel from Pacific Partnership and the Military Sealift Command joint high speed vessel USNS Millinocket (JHSV 3) saved the life of a man who was drowning in the waters near the ship July 10.

After the vessel arrived in port earlier in the day for its third stop of Pacific Partnership 2015, three civilian mariners, Frederick Beck, Daniel Claycomb and Shannon Alves, noticed a semiconscious man floating in the water, unable to keep himself afloat.

The crew quickly threw him a life buoy to try to pull him from the water.

Noticing the unfolding event on the pier, Australian Army Lt. Col. Rodney Petersen and Australian Navy Lt. Cmdr. Alison Zilko, quickly ran to the pier and, with help from the ship’s crew, successfully pulled the man from the water. Zilko then began administering medical treatment.

According to Petersen, the man was only minutes away from dying if not for the quick actions of the crew.

Master-at-Arms 1st Class Charles Runner immediately contacted the local authorities to send a vehicle to retrieve the man. The man survived and was taken away for further medical treatment.

Millinocket and embarked Task Force Forager, led by an expeditionary command element from the Navy’s 30th Naval Construction Regiment (30 NCR) from Port Hueneme, California, are currently serving as the secondary platform for Pacific Partnership 2015. The primary platform for the mission is the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19).

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Image: US Navy