U.S. Marines Retake Ship From Pirates
AFRICA NEWS SEPTEMBER 9, 2010, 10:15 A.M. ET
Wall Street Journal. Found here:
U.S. Marines Retake Ship From Pirates - WSJ.com
By CHIP CUMMINS
DUBAI—U.S. Marines early Thursday boarded and seized control of a German-owned commercial vessel that had been commandeered by pirates, in what appeared to be the first American-led military boarding of its kind amid a recent surge of attacks in the Gulf of Aden and along the east coast of Africa.
A raiding party of 24 Marines boarded the ship about 85 miles southeast of Mukallah, Yemen, in the Gulf of Aden, according to the U.S. Navy. Pirates had captured the vessel, which was carrying steel chains, in the same vicinity the previous day, the Navy said.
The U.S. said there were no casualties among the raiding party or the ship's crew. Nine alleged pirates were captured in the operation.
Somalia-based pirates started to ratchet up their attacks in the gulf and along the east coast of Africa in late 2008. In the spring of 2009, the U.S. military intervened in a pirate attack on an American-flagged merchant ship.
The crew of that ship retook control of the vessel, but pirates escaped in a lifeboat with the captain of the ship as a hostage. U.S. snipers killed three pirates, captured a fourth and freed the captain in an elaborate naval rescue.
American warships since then have intervened a number of times to ward off attacks while they were still under way, often sending helicopters over ships being pursued by pirates, for instance. But this appeared to be the first time that a U.S. military team boarded a large vessel under pirate control.
French commandos have in the past stormed French-owned ships taken by pirates, with mixed results. In April, the French Navy recaptured a 48-foot sailing yacht from pirates, who were holding five hostages, including a toddler. One of the hostages—the owner of the yacht and the father of the child—was killed during the French operation.
Amid the increase in attacks, a number of multinational naval task forces have sprung up to patrol pirate-infested waters in and around the Gulf of Aden. Still, naval commanders often have been frustrated by not having ships or aircraft available to respond to attacks, considering the large expanse of ocean they are patrolling.
A U.S. Navy spokesman said Thursday's raid didn't necessarily signal a change in tactics in the U.S. response to pirate attacks. But because commanders had resources available this time around, they decided to act.
"This is a case of us having the right people, with the right capabilities at the right place and at the right time," said Lt. John Fage, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain.
In a statement, the Fifth Fleet said 24 Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, attached to the amphibious warship U.S.S. Dubuque, boarded the German-owned M/V Magellan Star, after pirates attacked it the previous day.
The U.S. military said a Turkish warship, currently in command of a multinational antipiracy task force in the region, responded to a distress call from the German ship. Two U.S. warships also part of the task force, the Dubuque and the guided-missile cruiser U.S.S. Princeton, joined the Turkish ship on the scene.
A spokesman for the task force said in an email response to questions that no shots were fired during the boarding, which lasted about one hour. No pirates were injured in the operation, he said.
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Regards,
Brad
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