Category Archives: Piracy

100 Marines, Sailors Ready to Ride Commercial Ships in Zone Defense Against Iran

100 Marines, Sailors Ready to Ride Commercial Ships in Zone Defense Against Iran

Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU(SOC)), prepare to board a UH-1Y Venom during a defense of amphibious task force (DATF) rehearsal aboard amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), Red Sea, Aug. 7, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo

A force of 100 Marines, newly trained by Navy personnel, stand ready to respond, if ordered, to provide armed security aboard foreign commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, USNI has learned. Read More

Deployed to Africa, USS 'Woody' Williams Key Platform to Train, Engage Partners in Piracy Hotspot

Deployed to Africa, USS ‘Woody’ Williams Key Platform to Train, Engage Partners in Piracy Hotspot

Members of a Brazilian Navy Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) team participate in a drill aboard the Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB-4) as part of Operation Guinex, Aug. 23, 2021. US Navy Photo

The small, rigid-hulled inflatable boat sped from the Brazilian Navy Frigate BNS Independencia (F-44) last week, taking an armed boarding team to a ship suspected of harboring illicit or piracy activities off western Africa’s coast. Read More

Experts: Maritime Industry Remains Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

Experts: Maritime Industry Remains Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

A crew aboard Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco’s Forward Operating Base Point Mugu MH-65 Dolphin helicopter conducts an overflight near an anchorage site off the coast of Los Angeles, Calif., on April 23, 2020. US Coast Guard Photo

While handling 90 percent of the global economy daily, maritime industry ashore and afloat remains increasingly vulnerable to cyber disruptions and attacks from “neerdowells and bad actors” that threaten financial markets and the country’s national security, the head of the Maritime Administration said last week. Read More

Navy Needs To Think Small When Planning Irregular Surface Warfare Strategies

Navy Needs To Think Small When Planning Irregular Surface Warfare Strategies

A boarding team from dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) approaches merchant vessel Golden Nori after pirates released the Japanese chemical tanker Dec. 12, 2007. The pirates seized the ship off the coast of Somalia in late October. The release of Golden Nori marked the first time in more than a year that no ships were held by Somali pirates. Navy Photo

Great power competition dramatically expands the challenges of confronting irregular naval warfare such as defending against maritime pirates or preserving the security of data sent through undersea cables, a panel of experts said at the Hudson Institute last week.

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China’s Interest in Africa Raises Concerns of Senate Panel

China’s Interest in Africa Raises Concerns of Senate Panel

Chinese sailors watch a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) pull into Djibouti. Xinhua Photo

Africa was the topic for the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, but what China was up to from one end of the continent to the other was its members’ recurring concern during Tuesday’s hearing. Read More

Panel: Navy and Coast Guard Operating More in a Maritime 'Grey Zone'

Panel: Navy and Coast Guard Operating More in a Maritime ‘Grey Zone’

A US Navy visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team, approached a suspected pirate after the Motor Vessel Nordic Apollo reported being under attack and fired upon by pirates in 2011. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Between war and peace is the grey zone – a legal status where the rules of engagement aren’t always clear for the Navy and Coast Guard forces increasingly operating there, according to top commanders from the services.

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Attack Boat USS Jacksonville Arrives at Final Homeport before 2018 Retirement

Attack Boat USS Jacksonville Arrives at Final Homeport before 2018 Retirement

USS Jacksonville (SSN-669) arriving in Bremerton, Wash., Monday. The boat is scheduled for retirement in early 2018. (U.S. Navy Photo)

A previous version of this post has the incorrect hull number for the nuclear attack submarine USS Jacksonville. The hull number is SSN-699, not SSN-669.

Nuclear attack submarine USS Jacksonville (SSN-699) reached its final homeport of Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton on Monday.

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Video: U.S. Navy Assists Iranian Sailors After Pirate Attack

Video: U.S. Navy Assists Iranian Sailors After Pirate Attack

Photo of Iranian dhow following a pirate attack on Oct. 24, 2017. US Navy Photo

Sailors from the guided-missile USS Howard (DDG-83) came to the aide to the crew of an Iranian fishing dhow that came under attack by pirates south of the island of Socotra near the Gulf of Aden, as seen in video obtained by USNI News on Thursday. Read More