SNMG1 Rescues Yemeni Sailors

Yesterday a volcano erupted on an island where Yemen has a naval facility. It was reported that SNMG1 was going to assist with the search of several sailors who evacuated the island after the eruption. From the Canadian press on board the HMCS Toronto:

A Canadian navy ship has rescued a Yemeni soldier and recovered the bodies of two others following a volcanic eruption on a small island in the Red Sea. A total of four survivors were pulled from the water.

HMCS Toronto was part of a NATO fleet sailing north of the Suez Canal when the Yemeni government asked them to assist in the search for eight soldiers believed at sea after the volcano.

Navy spokesman Ken Allen, aboard HMCS Toronto, told The Canadian Press the survivors were found this morning as the ships were leaving the area after the Yemeni coast guard no longer required their services.

Allen said that HMCS Toronto rescued one of the eight missing Yemeni soldiers and recovered the bodies of two others.

Three more survivors were pulled from the water by Dutch and American ships.

Twenty nine soldiers were based at the island, located about 140 kilometres off the Yemeni coast, that is used for naval control and observation because large cargo ships pass nearby.

The SNMG1 tour is wrapping out without much fanfare, indeed about the only news until today up to this point was the exercise where the South African submarine scored major success in an exercise. This rescue indeed is press, but I think there is an inverse relationship between press coverage and success in naval deployments like this.

My guess would be this is one of the most successful NATO maritime deployments in a long time, and certainly one of the most useful from an engagement perspective.