The U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) comes to the aid of the merchant cargo vessel Sea Land Mariner in the Mediterranean Sea on April 18, 1998. Search and rescue crew members, helicopters and an 18-person fire-fighting team from the Wasp responded to an emergency distress call from the merchant vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, approximately 85 miles west of Crete. A U.S. Navy CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter air-lifted two of the merchant vessel crew members to the Wasp for medical treatment of injuries caused by the initial explosion.