 The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan rescued 282 people from a sinking vessel in the Mediterranean June 6th. Bataan transferred 277 persons in distress to the armed forces of Malta Offshore Patrol vessel P-61, and another five persons were medically evacuated to Malta. The ship's crew provided immediate medical attention, as well as food, water and temporary shelter to the victims. Bataan launched two MH-60 Seahawk helicopters and star swimmers to extract persons from the water. USS Elrod provided a rigid hull inflatable boat to assist in the rescue efforts. Bataan, with elements of 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, are in the US-6 fleet area of operations to augment US crisis response forces in the region. Read more about this story at Navy.mil. From our hands update, thanks for watching.