house thousands left homeless by the quake, and in the ARG/MEU deliveries of water and humanitarian supplies to many hard-to-reach sites within the country. Following that, Gunston Hall participated in Exercise Atlas Hinge to enhance at-sea and Marine interoperability with Tunisian forces. 2006 It was announced on 9 October 2006 in the Halifax Herald in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that the Canadian Navy would borrow the amphibious assault ship for a brief period, arriving at CFB Halifax in early November 2006. About 150 Canadian soldiers from CFB Valcartier, along with their light armored vehicles and G-wagons, boarded the vessel and to train to storm beaches in landing craft. The U.S. military provided mentoring and support during the operation. 2008 While on deployment Gunston Hall engaged and gave chase to the tanker Golden Nori which had been hijacked by Somalian pirates. After days of chasing, Golden Nori was cornered in a Somali bay where assisted with the extraction of the hostages. In July 2008, Gunston Hall underwent a midlife modernization availability at Metro Machine Corp. in Norfolk, Virginia, which included major upgrades to the ship's control system, local area network and machinery control system, propulsion systems, air conditioning system, as well as replacement of the ship's boilers and evaporators with an all-electric services system. The refit extended her expected service life which could be up until 2038. She completed subsequent sea trials on 21 May 2009. 2010 Gunston Hall was deployed in January 2010 as part of rescue efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. On 18 January 2010, she anchored off Killick Navy Base and started relief operations. In August 2010, after allegations of sexual harassment and simple assault among the ship's crew sufaced, her commanding officer was relieved of his command by Rear Admiral Dave Thomas, commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic, while the ship's executive officer and former Command Master Chief were given non-judicial actions over the same incident. 2011 In 2011 Gunston Hall participated in "Amphibious-Southern Partnership Station 2011", during on a two-month deployment to the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility, with stops in Belize, Colombia, Guatemala and Jamaica. Embarked with Gunston Hall was a U.S. Marines Theater Security Cooperation Task Force composed of multiple Marine Corps units, and the staff element of Destroyer Squadron 40. The sailors and Marines conducted subject matter expert exchanges with partner nations and gave out gifts to needy children at their port