THE Canadian patrol frigate, HMCS Charlottetown, is paying a visit to Palma after six months of operations with coalition forces in the Middle East.
The Charlottetown, which was commissioned in 1995, has been involved in operations against terrorism in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea as part of Operation Altair, Canada's maritime contribution to the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.
The Canadian frigate left her home port of Halifax in Nova Scotia on November 1, 2007 to begin the transit overseas with the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group. Since then the frigate has been involved in a number of operations.
In February, she was near the coast of Pakistan when she received a report about the Al Moula Madad, a Pakistani dhow. The Charlottetown located and tracked the dhow to a position just outside Pakistani waters. On receiving orders to search the dhow, the boarding party found 4.3 tons of hashish hidden in fuel tanks and under deck planking.
The crew took samples and heaved the rest of the drug overboard.
The Charlottetown has also been involved in operations against pirates and search and rescue operations.
The frigate's Sea King helicopter was involved in the rescue of two drifting sailors aboard the 240-ft barge, Azaan, in the Arabian Sea in February.
The two sailors aboard had been aboard another vessel, the Al Wabi, which was towing the Azaan to a scrap-metal yard in Jiwani in Pakistan.
At the end of January, the towing cable broke and the two sailors climbed aboard the Azaan to attach a new one. While they were aboard the barge, the Al Wabi capsized and sank, taking five members of the crew with her. The two rescued sailors were left adrift for more than a week with nothing to eat or drink and with no shelter or means of communication.
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