German warship saves sailors [Archives:2006/963/Local News]

SANA'A, 12 July ) A German warship rescued 13 sailors that were in danger of drowning in the Indian Ocean a week ago, according to the German embassy's website.

The embassy's website confirmed that the rescue was carried out by German warship Shlizvich Holstein. It then transferred the survivors to hospitals in Aden. The ship was launched and faced light waves during the daunting task to find survivors of the crew of the ship. The crew was located by helicopter using satellite imagery. They were then brought by air to the warship. One of the rescued crew members was seriously injured and was treated on an urgent basis.

The website did not give any information or numbers about those who drowned, but it did confirm that the ship sank off the coast of Abdul-Kori Island.

The last issue of Yemen Times reported, from the Yemen's official news agency Saba, that the ship, Meryam 4, sank off the Yemeni island of Socotra, which lies about 270 kilometers northeast of the Somali tip of Africa and 960 kilometers east of the Yemeni port of Aden.

On Wednesday 5th July, due to bad weather, seven crew members were killed and 12 crew members survived.

The ship, which was on its way to Zanzibar in Tanzania from the Omani port of Salalah with its 19 crew members, was carrying a cargo of around 5,000 tones of Omani cement, said Saba, which confirmed that Yemeni coast guard vessels and other foreign ships rescued the survivors and retrieved bodies from the water.

It is worth noting that there are six navy ships from the US, Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Germany located in the Indian Ocean, particularly in the waters of the Horn of Africa, in attempts to prevent terrorist activity, such as weapons and drugs smuggling.
——
[archive-e:963-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-07-13-p:ln]