WASHINGTON– U.S. Navy ships and planes combed areas of the Gulf of Aden on Monday for two missing U.S. Navy SEALs as details emerged about their mission to board and seize a ship carrying components for Iranian medium-range ballistic missiles bound for Somalia, a U.S. defense official said Monday.
The official said the crew of the dhow, which was not flying the country’s flag, was planning to transfer the missile parts, including warheads and engines, to another ship off the coast of Somalia. The Navy acknowledged that the ship had a history of transporting illegal weapons from Iran to Somalia, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that were not made public.
The SEALs were on the USS Lewis B. Puller, a Navy expeditionary sea base ship, and traveled in small special operations combat vessels piloted by a naval special warfare crew to reach the ship. While boarding the ship in rough seas around 8 pm local time, a SEAL was knocked over by high waves and a teammate went after him. Both are missing.
The team that boarded the small ship faced a dozen crew members. The crew members, who were detained, did not have documentation, which allowed a search to be carried out on the boat. The weapons were confiscated and the ship was sunk, a routine procedure that normally involves punching holes in the hull.
U.S. officials have said the waters of the Gulf of Aden are warm and Navy SEALs are trained for such emergencies. On Monday, Navy ships, helicopters and drones participated in the ongoing search.
The US Navy has carried out regular interdiction missions in the region, and has also intercepted weapons on ships headed to the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Officials have said the SEAL mission was not related to Operation Prosperity Guardian, the ongoing U.S. and international mission to provide protection to commercial vessels in the Red Sea, or the retaliatory strikes that the United States and the United Kingdom have carried out in Yemen over the last two days.