Seized ship was retaken by US Marine specialist pirate fighters

MORE of the story of the US Marines successful boarding and retaking of a containership captured by pirates off Somalia on September 9 is emerging, reports Strategyworld.com of Provo, Utah.

The 730-TEU Magellan Star, out of Bilboa bound for Singapore, and her 11-man crew were rescued in the Gulf of Aden after being seized by Somali pirates.

First, the marines were not simply passing through on their way joint exercises with the Kuwaiti navy as first reported, but trained to catch pirates and were serving in the anti-piracy patrol.

After the 11-man containership crew had shut down their engines and got into a safe room before the pirates boarded, they were followed by the platoon-sized American marine commando who boarded and told the pirates to leave or be killed.

The force was described as the Maritime Raid Force, trained to board ships controlled by pirates, and quickly overcoming them and rescuing the crew.

These travel on the carrier-like amphibious ships that the US Navy deploys all over the world, usually in conjunction with a carrier task force.

The creation of the force, said the website, was inspired by the Royal Marines, which first adopted commando tactics in World War II and have maintained Royal Marine Commandoes ever since.
(Source:www.schednet.com)