USS Donald Cook Assists in Black Sea Search and Rescue

Jul 19, 2007 -- ODESSA, Ukraine — Demonstrating the maritime benefits achieved through multinational exercises like Sea Breeze 2007 (SB07), USS Donald Cook (DDG 75), Turkish and Hellenic naval assets assisted in a real-life search and rescue (SAR) operation in the Black Sea July 17.

At 7:25 p.m., the Turkish Coast Guard vessel Yavuz reported receiving a distress call that a Liberian merchant vessel Barents Bay crewmember fell overboard. The incident occurred approximately 54 miles off the coast of Romania. USS Donald Cook, the flagship of SB07, responded to the area to assist. The Maritime Rescue Center in Constana, Romania designated Donald Cook as the on-scene commander to coordinate all military and commercial vessels involved in the search.

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Donald Cook temporarily suspended SB07 training and ordered a portion of the multinational exercise ships to the scene, including the Hellenic Navy frigate Psara and the Turkish Coast Guard vessel Kemal Reis, which dispatched a helicopter to aid in the search. SAR efforts went on throughout the night as rescue swimmers, ships and smaller boats participating in SB07 were placed on standby.

“In the true spirit of maritime partnerships, Turkish, Hellenic and U.S. naval assets worked with Romanian officials on the ground to help the merchant vessel in the search,” said Capt. Chip Walter, SB07 exercise deputy commander and U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Sixth Fleet Black Sea region coordinator. “Despite their valiant efforts, the crewmember was not recovered. Although this is a sad event, the fact that Black Sea maritime partners can work together to conduct these kinds of operations is exactly why we talk about a ‘1,000-ship Navy concept’ and why we have exercises such as Sea Breeze 2007.”

Hosted by the Ukrainian Navy, Sea Breeze is a two-week joint invitational maritime exercise held annually in the Black Sea and at various land-based Ukrainian training facilities with the goals of enhancing multinational interoperability, while developing Black Sea-nation maritime safety and security capabilities. The largest multinational naval exercise held in the Black Sea, SB07 provides participants with numerous opportunities to conduct operations like SAR, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance missions, while bolstering maritime domain awareness to prevent maritime criminal activity.

Source: EUCOM