Australia's Navy chief Vice Admiral Russ Crane has strongly defended the response of the patrol boat which conducted the rescue of a group of asylum seekers off Christmas Island.
He says the sailors plus some army personnel aboard patrol boat HMAS Pirie went through an ordeal which most would never fully comprehend.
The Vice Admiral says there has been some talk about the time it took for the navy to respond, but they mobilised as soon as they received the call for help. He says they carried out their task with professionalism and a dedication of which Australians can be proud.
A wooden-hulled fishing boat now identified as SIEV 221 smashed into rocks on Christmas Island on December 15, with as many as 50 of the estimated 90 asylum seekers aboard believed to have died.
So far 30 bodies have been recovered.
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Sailors have to clear customs: navy chief
Mr Crane also commented on allegations that drugs earlier this week had been smuggled into Australia aboard navy warships.
Earlier this week, the Department of Defence announced that Defence investigators and NSW police were looking into the alleged supply and use of illicit substances, including steroids, by sailors at Sydney's Garden Island naval base.
Seventeen navy personnel have been identified as alleged members of the drug ring.
Vice Admiral Crane said the sailors would have been cleared by customs when they entered Australia.
"Navy's tolerance for trafficking and in dealing in any way, shape or form with illegal drugs is zero.
And we will work very hard to make sure that there is no possibility of drugs being evident in our society," he said.
