MV Magellan Star piracy interdiction

Captains,

U.S. Marines captured 9 pirates and rescued 11 crew of the M/V Magellan Star near Yemen last week - the first such rescue since Captain Phillips was rescued from his lifeboat during the M/V Maersk Alabama pirate attack over a year ago. No shots were fired this time. A Coast Guard law enforcement detachment assisted two Maritime Raid Force teams operating from the USS Dubuque and USS Princeton which were patrolling in the Gulf of Aden with the multi-national Combined Task Force 151.

The pirates were armed and resistant, but the M/V Magellan Star crew was well protected in a "safe room" - a key fact for the the U.S. Marines' chain of command. Prosecutorial evidence collected by the Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment and Naval Criminal Investigation Service will be used to bring the pirates to justice as soon as jurisdiction is established in an appropriate court.

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Marines seize ship from pirates

Marines in inflatable boats approach the Magellan Star to take the container ship back from Somali pirates who had commandeered it.(U.s. Navy)

By Craig Whitlock

Friday, September 10, 2010

U.S. Marines rescued a hijacked German-owned cargo ship off the coast of Yemen on Thursday, boarding the vessel as dawn broke and apprehending nine pirates without firing a shot.

Two dozen Marine commandos took control of the Magellan Star, a container ship en route from Spain to Vietnam, by swarming the decks and surrounding the armed pirates before they had time to react, U.S. military officials said. The pirates, all Somali nationals, will remain in custody of the U.S. Navy until officials can decide whether they should be prosecuted or released.

Countering Somali pirates

Captains,

Just a year since the Maersk Alabama incident, additional U.S. Government efforts to thwart piracy off Somalia were revealed this week. President Obama issued an Executive Order which includes certain named Somali pirates to whom it will now be illegal to pay ransoms or support in any way. The E.O. is "not targeted at the entire country of Somalia, but rather is intended to target those who threaten peace and stability in Somalia" and specified that "acts of piracy or armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia threaten the peace, security or stability".

In the mean time, 5 suspected Somali pirates captured on April 1 are being brought into the U.S. justice system after they actually opened fire on the USS Nicholas.

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April 13, 2010 Washington (CNN) -- Five suspected Somali pirates accused of attacking a U.S. Navy ship could be sent to the United States to face criminal proceedings, according to U.S. military officials.

This is only the second time U.S. authorities have brought pirate suspects from Somalia to the United States to possibly face trial.

The five are being held aboard the USS Nicholas -- the guided-missile frigate they are accused of attacking -- off the Horn of Africa and will be transferred to Department of Justice authority in the coming days, officials said.

Although the United States worked with Kenya to create a system to try pirate suspects in that country, the Kenyan government told Washington that its court system is overburdened and cannot accept more cases.