About Time: USN Establishes Anti-Piracy Command

Better late than never, I guess.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

U.S. Navy establishes anti-piracy command

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy has established a unit to fight Somalian pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

U.S. Central Command has formed the Maritime Security Patrol Area, comprised of air and naval assets, to battle pirates from Somalia. MPSA has been augmented by warships from allied countries and operations would be directed by Combined Task Force-150.

"A force of coalition navy warships will patrol the area, and aircraft will fly in the airspace above," Centcom said.

The new U.S. navy unit was launched in August 2008. MPSA was said to have monitored, tracked and boarded suspected pirate ships.