GULF OF ADEN (BNO NEWS) -- A U.S. Navy frigate has rescued more than a dozen Pakistani mariners after their fishing vessel sank west of Socotra Island off the Horn of Africa on Monday, the U.S. Navy said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Navy said a P-3C Orion aircraft, from patrol squadron VP-16, forward-deployed out of Djibouti, spotted a life raft carrying 16 Pakistani mariners near debris in the eastern Gulf of Aden around noon local time (1500 GMT) during a routine patrol in support of a counter-piracy task force.

The USS Elrod, which was the nearest vessel with search and rescue capabilities, immediately dispatched an SH-60B Sea Hawk helicopter in order to conduct search and rescue operations while the Elrod was en-route to the location.

The helicopter crew rescued 12 men by air, and when the frigate neared the life raft, they sent a rigid-hull inflatable boat to pick up the remaining four men.

Once the survivors were aboard Elrod at 5 p.m. local time (2000 GMT), interpreters confirmed that all crew members had been rescued. The medical team aboard USS Elrod assessed them to be in good health.

The U.S. Navy said the Pakistani-flagged fishing skiff Al An Wari sank in the Gulf of Aden due to cracks in the hull. The skiff had pulled into port in Yemen on June 29 for repairs, returned to sea on July 1 and sank on July 2. The crew was drifting at sea in a life raft for more than 48 hours before the frigate rescued them.

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