U.S. forces board pirate-captured vessel, seize control

[mike r]

Source: CNN

U.S. Marines boarded and seized control Thursday of a German-owned vessel that had been captured by pirates the day before off the coast of Somalia, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said.

The incident marks the first time U.S. military forces off Somalia have staged an action to board a commercial vessel where pirates were on board with hostages, according to a U.S. Navy spokesman, who was not authorized to speak publicly but had direct knowledge of the incident.

The action came about because the highly specialized Marine raiding force -- the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Maritime Raid Force -- was nearby, the spokesman said.

Twenty-four U.S. Marines from the force, which was aboard the USS Dubuque and operating under the multi-national anti-piracy combined task force, boarded the M/V Magellan Star at about 5 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET), the Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/09/09/us.somalia.pirates/?hpt=T2