Royal Navy air crew rescues last survivor of sunken tanker in the Indian Ocean

Wildcat aircrew, Winchman AET Stu Rogers, Pilot Lt Si Hall and Observer Lt Ash Morgan (flight commander) on RFA Cardigan Bay. MTM Tortola is in the background. Picture - Royal Navy, TwitterWildcat aircrew, Winchman AET Stu Rogers, Pilot Lt Si Hall and Observer Lt Ash Morgan (flight commander) on RFA Cardigan Bay. MTM Tortola is in the background. Picture - Royal Navy, Twitter
Wildcat aircrew, Winchman AET Stu Rogers, Pilot Lt Si Hall and Observer Lt Ash Morgan (flight commander) on RFA Cardigan Bay. MTM Tortola is in the background. Picture - Royal Navy, Twitter
AT THE end of a dramatic day-long international rescue which saved 13 lives, a Royal Navy air crew has rescued the last survivor of a sunken tanker in the Indian Ocean.

Royal Navy air engineering technician Stu Rogers was repeatedly swamped by waves as he spent half-an-hour trying to hook the stricken sailor and winch him up into HMS Monmouth’s Wildcat helicopter, 140 miles off the island of Socotra in the Gulf of Yemen.

The sailor was the 13th of 14 crew members of the tanker Rama 2, which put out a mayday call in the early hours of Monday as it was battered by heavy seas.

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A dozen crew members were picked up by merchant vessels which took part in the rescue effort, directed by British naval authorities in Bahrain.

Type 23 frigate HMS Monmouth. Picture: Royal NavyType 23 frigate HMS Monmouth. Picture: Royal Navy
Type 23 frigate HMS Monmouth. Picture: Royal Navy

But two men were reported to be in the water, prompting Plymouth-based HMS Monmouth to launch her new Wildcat helicopter Black Jack.

The helicopter was too far from the Rama 2’s last position to perform an immediate rescue, but refuelled on another British naval vessel patrolling in the region, RFA Cardigan Bay.

With the help of the merchant vessels and a long-range Japanese patrol aircraft to direct the helicopter, Black Jack arrived on the scene as darkness was falling on.

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A flare marked the location of one of the two crew still in the water, but the weather was said to be poor, fuel running low and light fading – meaning the rescue was on the limit of what the helicopter and its crew are allowed to safely operate in.

Life raft from the Japanese patrol aircraft. Picture: Royal NavyLife raft from the Japanese patrol aircraft. Picture: Royal Navy
Life raft from the Japanese patrol aircraft. Picture: Royal Navy

At times waves engulfed both winchman and survivor, exhausting both men, but at the last minute Mr Rogers connected the shipwrecked sailor to his winch wire and hauled him safely into the Wildcat.

Stu said: ‘It was a difficult sortie. We were close to the wire but it was great that we were able to get him on board.

‘A 30-minute attempt to get him hooked up was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do since joining the Fleet Air Arm.’

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