The guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107), homeported in Norfolk provided life-saving medical support to a mariner off the coast of Bermuda while underway Thursday, May 17.

Once Gravely arrived on scene, the patient was transported from his sailboat via small boat to Gravely where the ship's medical team provided care to stabilize the patient for transport to a shore-based medical care facility.

"When we heard about the medical emergency aboard SUN KOZ 2, we were very relieved that we were in a position close enough to assist. This is the kind of mission that any Navy crew rallies around instantly, and that was the case here on Gravely. I am proud of my Sailors and their efforts to help a fellow mariner out here on the high seas," said Gravely Commanding Officer Cmdr. Justin Hodges.

U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders in the 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, received the initial request for the medevac from a sailboat approximately 600 miles southeast of Bermuda Wednesday afternoon. The Coast Guard contacted the U.S. Navy and merchant vessel United Grace in the area to coordinate a response.

"The Coast Guard takes the lead in coordinating maritime search and rescue in U.S. waters and beyond," said Rear Adm. Meredith Austin, commander, 5th Coast Guard District. "When cases like these happen so far from shore, we depend on and are thankful for other partners-at-sea like the Navy or Good Samaritan merchant vessels to assist. Thanks to technologies like the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System for merchant vessels and other satellite communication methods, we can reach resources in a given area and request help for those in distress."

Gravely recently participated in exercise Joint Warrior 2018 off the coast of Scotland and was transiting the Atlantic Ocean.

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