A U.S. Navy frigate rescued 11 Iranian fishermen who were stranded in the Persian Gulf without food, the Navy said Thursday.

A statement from the Bahrain-based U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said a helicopter from USS Elrod spotted the men’s trawler Tuesday afternoon “dead in the water” about 40 miles off Kuwait City.

The vessel’s engine had failed and the fishermen did not have any food. A helicopter delivered food to them and a team of Navy sailors returned Wednesday morning and fixed the trawler.

The USS Elrod is part of a naval interception force supporting the trade sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations after Saddam Hussein’s forces invaded Kuwait in August 1990.