An eagle-eyed rating on watch on the bridge of Type 23 frigate HMS Marlborough has resulted in the rescue of three stricken fishermen in South-East Asia.

Marlborough sailed from Singapore for the UK on Monday morning (July 7), and the following day LOM(AWW) S.P. Simpson, the quartermaster on watch, spotted the wreck of the Hijau at some distance and alerted the Officer of the Watch.

The dhow was sinking around 40 miles from land between Sumatra and Malaysia in the Malacca Strait.

Further investigation by Marlborough's Lynx helicopter confirmed the situation and the frigate’s seaboat was despatched to rescue three very tired and grateful Indonesians, Mr Muktar (21), Mr Mustafa (22) and Mr Alfian (27), who were clinging to the small part of the superstructure which remained above water.

The men had no radio, lifejackets or lifebelts, and had been unable to abandon ship or attract attention to their plight.

The fishermen described their plight to Marlborough's Medical Officer Lt Baldeep Bains – a Malaysian by birth – and told how they had taken on water in strong winds some five days earlier and how they had been stranded with very little in the way of food and water to keep them going.

After a medical check-up, a hot meal and the issue of some dry clothing, the men were all transferred to the care of a nearby Taiwanese fishing boat for return home.

Once the safe transfer of the men was completed, HMS Marlborough returned to the site to deal with the foundering vessel, which was a hazard to shipping. Sixty rounds from the 30mm gun were sufficient to finish the job and send the vessel safely to the bottom.

HMS Marlborough left the UK in mid-January and took part in the war against Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.

She later resumed her planned deployment, Naval Task Group 03, to conduct defence diplomacy visits in Australia and New Zealand.

More recently, Capt Anderson, the ship’s Commanding Officer, took an active role as Commander of Red (enemy) Forces in the Five Powers Defence Arrangement Exercise Flying Fish alongside Malaysian, Singaporean, Australian and New Zealand forces.