Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

[The 3rd Naval Fleet] Airtight guard against marine disasters and enemy provocations

“Move out immediately! Move out immediately! A cargo ship and a fishing boat crashed on the neighboring sea area of Bulmugido. Fishing boat submerged!”

On May 20 at 2:00 P.M., an urgent broadcast came through that a marine accident had occurred on the neighboring sea area of Bulmugido, Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do. It was a report that one hour ago, a cargo ship departing from Mokpo port and heading to Anjwado collided with a fishing boat entering into the North port, which led to the submergence of the fishing boat and the oil spill from the cargo vessel. The 3rd Naval Fleet Command dispatched vessels to the scene as soon as they received the report of the accident. Fortunately, this was not a real accident. It was a comprehensive, combined marine rescue training operation conducted by the 3rd Naval Fleet, in collaboration with 15 institutions and organizations such as Jeollanam-do.

This rescue training operation was carried out by a total 26 vessels which consist of 9 vessels from the 3rd Fleet including Cheonghaejin Ham, a submarine rescue ship and Suncheon Ham, a patrol frigate, 11 ocean police patrol ships, 8 vessels belonging to local governments, 4 helicopters and around 680 personnels.

After receiving the report of the situation from the Mokpo maritime police, the 3rd Naval Fleet ordered an emergency departure while requesting additional manpower to the higher command. The EAE(Emergency Action Element of the naval fleet was also called up immediately. The vessels and helicopters which arrived at the scene executed rescue work, dropping life rafts. Also, they performed cleanup work using an oil fence and pressurized water cannons to remove oil spills on the sea as well.

The Ship Salvage Unit(SSU) and Western Sea Maritime Special Rescue Team sealed the broken part of the cargo ship and drained the fishing boat. The training ended with a combined underwater rescue of the navy and the maritime police as well as the salvage of the sunken vessels.

The commander of the 3rd Naval Fleet said, “The 3rd Naval Fleet will continue trying to build up its thorough readiness posture against enemy provocations, and will also engage in perfect positioning to respond to marine disaster situations in a timely manner.”

By Su-Yeol, Maeng < guns13@dema.mil.kr >
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