A US Navy P-3 Orion aircrew from Patrol Squadron 47 (VP-47) helped rescue sixty-eight Somali migrants adrift on a raft in the Mediterranean Sea the night of 15 January 2012. The Orion aircrew, based at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, but deployed to Sigonella, Sicily, responded to a Malta Rescue Coordination Center request and found the raft in open water after a short search. The aircrew dropped relief supplies and contacted nearby vessels to render assistance. The Panamanian-flagged vessel M/V Verona sixty miles away responded. While awaiting the arrival of the rescue vessel, the aircrew orbited above the raft. Once all the Somalis were onboard the Verona, the P-3 crew returned to Sigonella after an eleven-hour mission. This image, showing the raft, was taken from the P-3’s surveillance equipment.
