 The Aviation Combat Element of the 31st MEU, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265, flew over 415 flight hours to deliver aid supplies throughout the region.The rest of the MEU remained at sea in the Leyete Gulf of the Philippines to act as a contingency reserve in the event any more assistance was needed or another disaster were to strike the area.In April 2014, the 31st MEU on board the "USS Bonhomme Richard" assisted in air-sea search and rescue operations of the Korean ferry "Sewol" that "sank near the island of Jindo off the southwestern coast of the Republic of Korea 16 April".