"The SEALs were able to take control of the Morning Glory without firing a
shot, confirmed Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, a spokesman for U.S. European
Command. The three Libyans who had captured it are under Navy control, and
its original crew of 21 is safe, he said. The crew identified by the
Pentagon includes six Pakistanis, six Indians, three Sri Lankans and two
from Syria, Sudan and Eritrea, respectively"
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/cyprus-navy-seals-oil-tanker-libyan-rebels-104724.html
Navy SEALs seize hijacked ship and Libyan oil
The SEALs boarded the tanker Morning Glory late Sunday in international
waters. | AP Photo
By PHILIP EWING | 3/17/14 7:00 AM EDT Updated: 3/17/14 4:19 PM EDT
American commanders are still determining how and where they'll hand over a
ship full of Libyan oil that Navy special operators seized early Monday on
the high seas in the Mediterranean.
A SEAL team attached to the Special Operations Command Europe and the crews
of two destroyers helped take control of the oil tanker Morning Glory off
Cyprus after three Libyan rebels absconded with the ship last week. A crew
from the destroyer USS Stout is helping pilot the ship back to Libya.
The ship's cargo of oil belongs to Libya, but the Morning Glory itself is a
"stateless vessel," the Pentagon said, so it isn't clear what will become
of it once it gets to port.
The SEALs were able to take control of the Morning Glory without firing a
shot, confirmed Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, a spokesman for U.S. European
Command. The three Libyans who had captured it are under Navy control, and
its original crew of 21 is safe, he said. The crew identified by the
Pentagon includes six Pakistanis, six Indians, three Sri Lankans and two
from Syria, Sudan and Eritrea, respectively.
The SEALs found a few small arms on board, Hicks said, but he declined to
give much more of a description of the operation.
"We completely understand the interest in the details of the mission, but
will not be able to get into details as it gets into tactics and techniques
we may have to use again in theater or elsewhere," Hicks said. "This is a
great capability we rely on to act, when asked, to provide support to the
international community to prevent unlawful acts at sea -- and respond to
them as well."
President Barack Obama personally approved the raid, Pentagon press
secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said Monday, at the request of the Libyan
and Cypriot governments.
The Libyan rebels who took the Morning Glory are said to belong to a
breakaway faction that wants to sell state-owned oil on the black market
for its own purposes.
SEALs train to land aboard "noncompliant" vessels by dropping down a rope
from a helicopter. They also train to approach target ships silently aboard
small boats or from underwater. In 2009, special operators parachuted into
the ocean from a C-130 cargo aircraft and rendezvoused with the destroyer
USS Bainbridge as part of the mission to rescue the American merchant
captain Richard Phillips, an operation that was later immortalized in the
movie "Captain Phillips."
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/cyprus-navy-seals-oil-tanker-libyan-rebels-104724.html#ixzz2wFnFmJHJ
Received on Mon Mar 17 2014 - 16:29:06 EDT