In the morning of 26 June 2017, the crew of Panama-registered tanker, RAMA 2, put out a Mayday call from a location south of Oman. It was heavily listed to starboard before eventually sinking. Merchant ships as well as military vessels and aircrafts in the area swiftly responded to the distress call. A search and rescue operation for the 14 crew overboard was conducted in adverse weather conditions of sea state 7, wind force 8 on the Beaufort scale and swells of over 5 metres.
In the face of the dangerous situation, the master and crew of the Singapore-registered petroleum/chemical tanker MTM TORTOLA, the master and crew of Malta-registered bitumen tanker SEAPOWER and the pilot and crew of the HMS MONMOUTH'S Wildcat Helicopter BLACK JACK showed exemplary courage and tenacity in the coordinated rescue of 13 crew members of the sunken tanker RAMA 2. Fighting against time and increasing fatigue, the two merchant ships were able to rescue 12 of the 14 crew members, while BLACK JACK managed to winch another survivor out of the engulfing waves. Unfortunately, the last crew member remained missing and the search and rescue operation had to be called off due to the worsening conditions.
The crew members of MTM TORTOLA, SEAPOWER and BLACK JACK will be receiving the Certificate of Commendation at the IMO Bravery Awards Ceremony 2018 for their remarkable effort. MPA would like to congratulate the master and crew of MTM TORTOLA, as well as the crew members of SEAPOWER and BLACK JACK, and would like to take this opportunity to commend their determination and tireless effort in an operation that lasted over 12 hours.
