CTF-151 pursues pirates.

With acts of piracy on the rise in the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean, the U.S. Navy committed ships and aircraft to protect international shipping lanes with the establishment of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 on 8 January under the command of RAdm. Terence McKnight.

Since its formation CTF-151 has trained for encounters with pirates while patrolling the same waters where armed mariners in small boats harassed and captured merchant vessels, such as an oil tanker and a Ukrainian transport ship carrying Russian military equipment. Including ships and aircraft from numerous other countries, the task force's combined efforts are similar to the cooperative campaign taken against the Barbary Pirates two centuries ago.

The task force's operations began with a mix of naval assets centered on flagship San Antonio (LPD 17) which offered two helicopter bays and room for maintenance crews for three HH-60H Seahawks from HS-3 that cross-decked from Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). Also embarked on San Antonio was the 3rd platoon of the 26 Marine Expeditionary Unit's (MEU) "Golf" Infantry Company, a military police detachment, and intelligence personnel.

San Antonio also had 14 Navy and Coast Guard visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) team members. Patroling with San Antonio were Vella Gulf (CG 72) with embarked HSL-42 and Mahan (DDG 72) which carried the ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

"We are a lean, agile, adaptable force capable of rapidly leveraging our capabilities from an expeditionary, amphibious platform at a time and place of our choosing in order to disrupt and prevent criminal activities on the high seas which violate international laws and threaten free trade and basic human rights," said Maj. Ken Goedecke, assistant operations officer, 26th MEU. "I would argue that that is as true today as it was 200 years ago."

RAdm. McKnight shifted his flag to Vella Gulf with is sophisticated tracking radar on 4 February as the task force stepped up its patrols and pursuit of pirates in the region. Vella Gulf (CG 72) was barely a week into its duties as CTF-151 flagship when a distress call in the Gulf of Aden put its crew and the multinational consortium of ships and aircraft to the test.

On the afternoon of 11 February the Marshall Islands-flagged motor vessel Polaris sent a distress call to all ships in the area reporting a small skiff containing seven suspected pirates had attempted a forcible boarding of their vessel using a ladder. Polaris crew members removed the ladder before the armed pirates could reach the ship's deck. Vella Gulf closed immediately with Polaris and intercepted the skiff matching the description. A boarding crew captured seven suspected pirates, their skiff, and weapons.