A deployed US Navy P-3C Orion crew from Patrol Squadron 8 (VP-8) at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, responded to a vessel in distress in the Caribbean on 27 November 2012. Upon locating the vessel approximately 160 miles west of Jamaica, the P-3 crew descended to assess the rapidly sinking boat’s condition and provide assistance. After determining the boat’s crew had a life raft and survival equipment, the Orion crew then contacted the merchant vessel Cap Domingo to assist. The three survivors were rescued and taken to Cartagena, Colombia, where US Embassy personnel coordinated their return to the United States. The P-3 crew then returned to Comalapa, El Salvador, where they are deployed in support of Operation Martillo counter-transnational organized crime operations.
