US Navy recaptures German vessel from pirates
The US Navy said that Marine commandos on Thursday reclaimed control of a vessel held by pirates off the Somalia coast and taken nine prisoners.
“At approximately 5 am local time, US Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Maritime Raid Force boarded and seized control of Antigua-Barbuda-flagged,
German–owned vessel M/V Magellan Star from pirates who attacked and boarded
the vessel early on Wednesday,” the Bahrain-headquartered Navy said.
“This successful mission by Combined Maritime Forces secured the safety of the ship’s crew and returned control of the ship to the civilian mariners.”
The Navy said that nine pirates have been detained and that the ship’s crew has not reported any injuries or casualties. There were no reported injuries from the U.S. Maritime Raid Force.
Gökçeada, a Turkish frigate, was the first to respond to a distress call received from Magellan Star on Wednesday. Two additional warships, Dubuque and Princeton joined Gökçeada to provide support.
“Units from the multi-national maritime force, under Combined Task Force 151, are
actively engaged in anti-piracy operations,” Turkish Navy Rear Adm. Sinan Ertugrul, commander of the task force, said. “This regional problem has global impact and we are completely committed to bringing the disruptive acts of piracy to an end. We have full support of the international community and will continue to do everything possible to bring security to the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin,” he said.
