bhramos
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U.S. Marines today stormed a German-owned commercial vessel that had been captured by Somali pirates, in what appears to be the first U.S.-led military boarding off the coast of East Africa.
The MV Magellan Star was located in the Gulf of Aden, about 85 miles south of the Yemeni town of al Mukalla, when U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Maritime Raiding Force boarded and seized control of the ship.
The U.S. Navy released few details but said in a statement that there were no casualties among the raiding party or the ship's crew. Nine alleged pirates were captured in the operation.
This is not the first time the U.S. military has used force to intercede in an act of piracy. In April of 2009, Navy SEAL snipers shot and killed three suspected pirates holding the captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama hostage on a lifeboat.
The difference in that operation was that the military acted after both the crew and the pirates had vacated the ship. Navy ships have also intervened during attacks while they were underway, but this is reportedly the first time a U.S. military team has boarded a ship fully under pirate control.
Such action isn't a change in tactics but a case of having the right people in the right place, the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said.
continued : Somali Pirates on Captured Ship Overtaken by Marines - ABC News
The MV Magellan Star was located in the Gulf of Aden, about 85 miles south of the Yemeni town of al Mukalla, when U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Maritime Raiding Force boarded and seized control of the ship.
The U.S. Navy released few details but said in a statement that there were no casualties among the raiding party or the ship's crew. Nine alleged pirates were captured in the operation.
This is not the first time the U.S. military has used force to intercede in an act of piracy. In April of 2009, Navy SEAL snipers shot and killed three suspected pirates holding the captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama hostage on a lifeboat.
The difference in that operation was that the military acted after both the crew and the pirates had vacated the ship. Navy ships have also intervened during attacks while they were underway, but this is reportedly the first time a U.S. military team has boarded a ship fully under pirate control.
Such action isn't a change in tactics but a case of having the right people in the right place, the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said.
continued : Somali Pirates on Captured Ship Overtaken by Marines - ABC News
