Jananese and pakistani naval ships helped rescue sailors from a South Korean cargo that was sinking Thursday in waters off Oman, AP QUOTED the U.S Navy sources as saying. The 23-man crew of the South-Korean cargo ship Orchin Sun issued a distress signal just after midnight, th U.S. Fifth Fleet said. According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry, the accident occurred in waters about 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of Oman when the 26,000-ton ship was sailing to Iran from China carrying iron frames. «Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force ship Suzunami and Pakistani ship Tippu Sultan provided assistance to a vessel in distress in the Gulf of Oman July 12 while supporting coalition maritime operations in the 5th Fleet area of operations, the Navy said. The Suzunami launched a helicopter and rescued one crew member from the water and took him to the ship. A commercial motor vessel on the scene rescued seven crew members, the navy added. According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry, the crew included eight South Koreans, 13 Filipinos and two Chileans. Eleven of them have been rescued, but the others were missing, the ministry said. «Our forces are always ready to assist mariners in distress,» said Commander, Maritime Forces in Bahrain Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff. «Its part of our operations and part of the tradition of professional mariners. We are able to respond quickly and in this case we saved lives.» The japanese and Pakistani vessels are part of a task force that patrols waters in the region.
