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HMAS
Fremantle’s PONPC Martin McCutcheon attends to a sick boy
onboard an Indonesian fishing vessel. He is being watched
over by ABBM Adam Hamburger. The boy was suffering from
dehydration and a fever.
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It
was a full catch for HMAS Fremantle when she came up with a much
bigger haul than her ship’s company had expected.
While on patrol off the north west coast of Australia, Fremantle
(LCDR Ainsley Morthorpe) came across a group of 17 Type II fishing
vessels anchored off a deserted coral atoll.
The Indonesian sailors had sailed to fish, legally, the waters
in the Memorandum of Understanding area around Ashmore Reef and
Browse Island and had been caught at sea in a four-day gale.
Having taken shelter in the limited protection of a reef, the
17 crews were recovering from their ordeal before returning to
their fishing.
While Fremantle had suspected that they might find some fishing
vessels in the area, the sight of 17 all clustered together came
as quite a surprise.
Undaunted, Fremantle’s boarding teams undertook an investigation
of the vessels to ensure their compliance with the regulations
of the MOU.
During the process, boarding party members discovered a 16-year-old
crew member suffering from the combined effects of the gale, dehydration
and a fever.
A second boat was dispatched from Fremantle with the ship’s PONPC
to provide a medical assessment and what treatment he could.
Under the concerned eyes of his crew-mates and family, PONPC Martin
McCutcheon reassured the young man and stabilized him.
Leaving drugs and careful care instructions with the master of
the vessel, the PONPC and the boarding team left a happier crew
behind, knowing that the boy would soon feel better.
Leaving the cleared vessels astern, Fremantle set off into the
sunset, her work completed along with a good deed done for the
day.
