Ship Log Pt. 2 HMCS Toronto

After leaving the Seychelles Toronto’s next task was to patrol the coast of Somalia. The objectives for this portion of the trip were similar to those outlined for the week-long patrol of the Gulf of Guinea: build MSA (maritime situational awareness), increase local awareness of NATO through “approach ops”, and deter piracy. For two weeks the task force patrolled the area, but the complete lack of traffic prevented us from achieving any of these goals. There wasn’t a single vessel of any size during the two-week transit from the Seychelles to the Gulf of Aden. No life existed on that desolate coast: no birds, no marine life, no boats, and no fishermen.

Once we rounded the Horn of Africa it was almost a complete reversal. SLt Paul Morrison coined the term “the Gulf of Eden”, due to the amount of life present in the area. Maybe it was just the contrast between the two places, but the Gulf of Aden seemed to be overflowing with life. We had swallows constantly following us, and in one 20-minute span I saw 3 schools of dolphins, and at least 3 fishing boats. We entered the Red Sea expecting illegal migrants, pirate attacks, and maybe a few chances for some approach ops. What we got instead blew us all away – literally.

The volcanic island of Jazirat at Ta’ir in the Red Sea exploded 80 nm from us on the 1st of October. By the time we arrived it was just after dusk, and what I was able to see on SEOSS was incredible. The lava flows and geysers of magma spewing from the earth were reminiscent of National Geographic. It was only really visible on the infrared camera of SEOSS. With the naked eye one could make out a faint red glow in the cloud of steam and smoke rising above the island. With the IR camera I was able to actually watch the lava flow down the mountainside into the water, and the enormous pillar of steam rising above it.

Ownership of the island is an ongoing dispute between Yemen and Eritrea. Yemen actually had troops stationed on the island that became trapped by the lava flows. Their coast guard was able to pick up most of the soldiers attempting to flee from the natural disaster, but they were unable to find eight others who had reportedly jumped into the ocean. After a few hours of waiting for permission from the Yemeni government to enter their territorial waters, SNMG 1 began a search and rescue operation that would last the next 48 hours.

The entire ship snapped into action as the XO described our mission of the moment. In less than an hour, all of the ship’s boats were in the water, lookouts were posted all around the ship, and our rotations began. Mike and I were invariably closed up on SEOSS – which proved to be one of the most useful tools for this purpose. After the first night, with no results, the Yemeni Coast Guard told Admiral Mahon, the Commander of our NATO force, that we weren’t required to help in the search any longer so we began a slow transit away from the island to carry on with our mission in the Red Sea. At around 0800 hrs the USS Bainbridge spotted a man overboard, that turned out to be one of the missing Yemeni soldiers. Thus, the fleet resumed the SAR operation.

SLt Andre Bard, the ship’s diving officer, along with several other divers on board were on the front line for the rest of the operation. A few hours later, Toronto rescued Private Ahmed, a 22 year old, miniscule man who had somehow managed to stay alive for over 20 hours in the water after fleeing from a volcano. The first thing he wanted to do once on board? Call his family. It’s amazing how little differences there are between cultures sometimes.



Sadly, the crew of Toronto, in conjunction with the Portuguese helicopter, Sonic, also pulled two bodies out of the water. These were stored on board until the Yemeni coast guard had a chance to come and collect them to take back to their families. It was a sobering thought to know that if you weren’t vigilant at your post (SEOSS, or wherever) people like Private Ahmed could end up like one of the bodies lying in your freezer.

At the same time, all the effort put into training, all the time spent working with other countries in our fleet, and all the money spent to get us here – were all worth it, to save just one life. Private Ahmed emerged from the hangar, wearing a ship’s ballcap and a t-shirt with an outline of Newfoundland on it. He walked gingerly to the Billy Pugh, shook hands with the CO, and then disembarked. As the Yemeni coast guard ship broke away from us he was smiling and waving his thanks to us - gestures that transcend linguistic boundaries. This is arguably one of the most rewarding things I’ll ever do, and I’m proud our ship was able to do it so well.

We continued the search for another 12 hours or so after disembarking Private Ahmed and his two deceased comrades, but after 48 hours had elapsed since the eruption, it was clear that there would not be any further survivors and the NATO task force was released from the Search and Rescue operation. With that, we left to carry on with the rest of our deployment.

Over the past few days there have been several things done to improve morale onboard the ship. After working in the blazing heat of the Red Sea with little sleep, no showers, and a heavy responsibility on our shoulders, it was time for a little R&R. We had a banyan involving a small pool on the flight deck, and a movie displayed on the hangar door. The following day the Wardroom held a mess dinner, and yesterday we conducted a sailpast for the Evertsen (Dutch), Olfert Fischer (Danish), and Alvares Cabrale (Portuguese). The Evertsen peppered us with beets, fruit, and bread, while also giving us a 21-gun salute. The Danish subtly reminded us that Hans Island belongs to them, and the Portuguese had demonstrated their masculinity by appropriately dressing the gun on their focsle.

Today we transited the Suez Canal. It was surreal to see civilization so closely after being away from it for so long. Palm trees lined the narrow channel and the temperature, thankfully, decreased. This marks the end of Operation Sextant, and the beginning of Operation Sirius (our Canadian name for NATO’s Operation Active Endeavour). The next half of the trip will see us conducting NATO’s business in the Mediterranean – a result of 9/11. We’ll be conducting approach ops, boardings, hailings, in addition to visiting numerous ports most notably Turkey and Algeria.
In a few days we’ll be in Souda Bay, and although it will be a working port, it will still be a good chance to recharge our batteries before we begin the next phase of the deployment.