CTF 151, USS Gettysburg Help Keep Waterways Safe From Pirates

GULF OF ADEN (June 2, 2009) Members of a visit, board, search and seizure team and members of U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team 91112, embarked aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64), respond to a suspect vessel while operating in the Combined Maritime Forces area of responsibility as part of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151. Gettysburg is serving as the flagship for CTF 151, a Turkish-led task force commanded by Turkish Navy Rear Adm. Caner Bener. The task force was established to conduct counter-piracy operations under a mission-based mandate throughout the Combined Maritime Forces area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Eric L. Beauregard.)

GULF OF ADEN (June 2, 2009) Rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIB) from USS Gettysburg (CG 64) carry members of the ship’s visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team and members of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) 91112. The team inspected a dhow that was later deemed not suspect. Gettysburg is serving as the flagship of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, a Turkish-led task force led by Turkish Rear Adm. Caner Bener, which was established to conduct counter-piracy operations under a mission-based mandate throughout the CMF area of responsibility to actively deter, disrupt and suppress piracy in order to protect global maritime security and secure freedom of navigation for the benefit of all nations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Eric L. Beauregard.)

GULF OF ADEN (June 2, 2009) A rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) from USS Gettysburg (CG 64) carries members of the ship’s visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team and members of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) 91112. The team inspected a dhow that was later deemed not suspect. Gettysburg is serving as the flagship of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, a Turkish-led task force led by Turkish Rear Adm. Caner Bener, which was established to conduct counter-piracy operations under a mission-based mandate throughout the CMF area of responsibility to actively deter, disrupt and suppress piracy in order to protect global maritime security and secure freedom of navigation for the benefit of all nations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Eric L. Beauregard.)

Dispatches from the Front:

USS GETTYSBURG, At Sea, June 4, 2009 -- Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 and its flagship, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG-64), helped keep the sea lines of communication open and waterways clear of criminal activity when they boarded a suspect skiff June 2.

At approximately 11 a.m. Tuesday, members of the Gettysburg’s visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) 91112, inspected a small dhow and its accompanying skiff after it was spotted by a helicopter assigned to Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 46, Detachment 9, while patrolling the Gulf of Aden.

Gettysburg’s boarding team found no suspicious materials or pirate paraphernalia aboard the dhow, but used the opportunity to speak with the dhow’s passengers, letting them know that Coalition warships are patrolling the area to keep them safe and out of harm’s way.

“Our job as Sailors, no matter what country we are from or what mission we are assigned to, is to protect all people at sea,” said Turkish Rear Adm. Caner Bener, commander, CTF 151. “It is our duty and our privilege to keep the world’s waterways safe for all those who travel on the sea.”

CTF 151 is a Turkish-led multinational task force established to conduct counterpiracy operations under a mission-based mandate throughout the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) area of responsibility to actively deter, disrupt and suppress piracy in order to protect global maritime security and secure freedom of navigation for the benefit of all nations.

(Report by Lt. John Fage, Combined Task Force 151 Public Affairs.)

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