Indian Ocean (Feb. 3, 2005) - The Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) navigates alongside USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) after arriving on station near Banda Aceh, Sumamtra, Indonesia. Mercy has been forward deployed to assist in humanitarian aid efforts currently in progress. Mercy will serve as an enabling platform to assist humanitarian operations ashore in ways that host nations and international relief organization find useful. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group has been operating in the Indian Ocean off the waters of Indonesia in support of Operation Unified Assistance the humanitarian relief effort to aid the victims of the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Gabriel R. Piper