Ottawa: Canada's patrol frigate HMCS Charlottetown while on patrol in Arabian Sea as part of the US-led "war on terror" has rescued two Pakistani sailors adrift over the weekend, the navy said.

The ship s Sea King helicopter was conducting a routine patrol as part of maritime security operations when the crew spotted the Azaan, a 240-foot barge designed to be towed by a tugboat, about 160 kilometres northeast of Muscat, Oman.

"As the helicopter approached, the crew members could see two people aboard waving frantically, and no tug in sight," said a statement yesterday. The Charlottetown changed course to intercept the barge and rescue the sailors.

The sailors aboard the barge said they had left the United Arab Emirates on January 29 as members of the crew of a vessel named Al Wabi, which was towing the Azaan to a scrap-metal yard in Jiwani, Pakistan.

On January 31,the towing cable broke in heavy seas, and they boarded the barge to attach a new one. While they were working, the Al Wabi lost propulsion, then capsized and sank, killing the other five crew members. The two men on the barge were left with nothing to eat or drink, no shelter, and no means of communication, the navy said.

An exhaustive search of the vicinity found only debris from the sunken vessel. The rescued pair were later delivered to Pakistani officials in the United Arab Emirates. HMCS Charlottetown is currently deployed in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea as part of Canada s maritime contribution to the continuing US-led campaign against terrorism known as Operation Enduring Freedom.

Source : PTI