U.S. Marines rescued the crew of a hijacked German-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden in the pre-dawn darkness Thursday, apprehending nine pirates without firing a shot.
Two dozen Marine commandos took control of the Magellan Star, a cargo ship, by slipping alongside it in small boats and climbing aboard on ladders, U.S. military officials said. The pirates, all Somali nationals, surrendered within minutes and are in the custody of the U.S. Navy.
“The pirates were definitely overmatched,” Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, said in a telephone interview. “We created a good plan and executed it really well.”
The dramatic rescue occurred one day after pirates captured the ship, the latest in a string of pirate attacks and hostage-takings in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Full Story: U.S. Marines nab Somali pirates in Gulf of Aden
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