U.S. Marine forces wrested control of a German-owned container ship, the MV Magellan Star, from Somali pirates Sept. 9 in the Gulf of Aden. The operation was the first of its kind for U.S. forces since piracy picked up in the region in 2007. The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said the operation does not indicate the beginning of more aggressive action on the part of the international counter-piracy naval forces in the Gulf of Aden, but it does mark the third visit, board, search and seizure raid this year by international forces against ships taken by pirates. The increased frequency of such operations could be attributed to improved situational awareness among international naval forces in the area, which have now had surface assets and aerial and submarine platforms in place for two years. In other words, the raid on the MV Magellan Star does not necessarily indicate a new policy but could represent a maturation of capabilities in the theater. Nevertheless, the scope and scale of Somali pirates' area of operation — the Gulf of Aden alone is 200,000 square miles — means the relatively small amount of deployed naval assets will continue to be limited in their ability to respond to the piracy threat.
