(September 3rd 2001)
RFA Fort Austin Rescues Twenty
A helicopter from RFA Fort Austin (A386) has rescued a group of Moroccan migrants adrift in the Mediterranean.
The twenty men, all between the ages of 20 and 40, were heading towards Spain when the engine on their Zodiac inflatable craft failed. In constant danger of capsizing, they drifted for two days before they were spotted 100 miles east of Gibraltar.
The supply ship RFA Fort Austin, en route to Exercise Argonaut, was alerted by the Rescue Centre at Almeira in Spain on the evening of Sunday September 2nd and immediately launched one of her three Sea King helicopters. In an operation lasting thirty minutes, the twenty men were winched aboard the helicopter. They were then flown to RFA Fort Austin where they received food, water and medical attention - several were treated for seasickness.
Fort Austin then headed towards the Spanish port of Cartagena where the men were handed over to the local authorities.