U.S. Navy ships and aircraft combed areas of the Gulf of Aden for two missing U.S. Navy SEALs on Monday as details emerged about their mission to board and take over a vessel carrying components for medium-range Iranian ballistic missiles headed for Somalia, a U.S. defense official said Monday.
The official said crew on the dhow, which did not have a country flag, were planning to transfer the missile parts, including warheads and engines, to another boat off the coast of Somalia. The Navy recognized the boat as one with a history of transporting illegal weapons from Iran to Somalia, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not made public.
The SEALs were on the USS Lewis B. Puller, a Navy expeditionary sea base vessel, and traveled in small special operations combat craft driven by naval special warfare crew to get to the boat. As they were boarding it in rough seas, around 8 p.m. local time, one SEAL got knocked off by high waves and a teammate went in after him. Both are missing.
The team boarding the small boat was facing about a dozen crew members. The crew members, who were taken into custody, had no paperwork, which allowed a search of the vessel. The weapons were confiscated, and the boat was sunk, a routine procedure that usually involves blowing open holes in the hull.
U.S. officials have said that the waters in the Gulf of Aden are warm, and Navy SEALs are trained for such emergencies. On Monday, Navy ships, helicopters and drones were involved in the ongoing search.
The U.S. Navy has conducted regular interdiction missions in the region, also intercepting weapons on ships that were bound for Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Officials have said that 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 conducted in Yemen over the past two days.
As The Washington Post and other media previously reported, Thursday’s nighttime operation, backed by helicopters and drones, took place in rough seas. When one of the SEALs slipped from a ladder while attempting to climb aboard the dhow, the second, having witnessed their comrade fall into the water, dove in to help, officials have said. Both were swept away by the powerful swells. Neither has been publicly identified.
As rescue operations began, other troops carried out a search of the boat, which had a crew of 14, according to a Tuesday statement by U.S. Central Command. They were taken into custody. The dhow was deemed “unsafe” and was sunk, according to the statement.
The seized items included Iranian-made ballistic and cruise missile warheads, propulsion and guidance systems, and air defense components. An “initial analysis” indicates the weapons match those the Houthis have used to target ships on the Red Sea, according to the statement, which accuses Iran and others involved of violating international law and a related U.N. resolution.
It is unclear where the vessel originated and who was on board. “Disposition of the 14 dhow crew members is being determined in accordance with international law,” the statement said. The operation marked the first U.S. Navy seizure of advanced Iranian-made ballistic components since 2019, the statement added. The Associated Press first reported some details of the seizure.
The episode has underscored a persistent challenge facing the Biden administration and its international partners as they vow to hold Yemen’s Houthis — and the militant group’s chief backer, Iran — accountable for a steep rise in attacks that have significantly disrupted commercial shipping in the region. U.S. and British forces struck dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen last week, hoping to discourage additional attacks, but the Pentagon acknowledged afterward that the group will probably remain a threat.
Interdicting suspicious or adversarial vessels, known as visit, board, search and seizure, or VBSS, is among the most difficult and dangerous missions undertaken by highly trained troops. Such operations typically involve approaching the suspect vessel in smaller boats and using ladders and climbing tools to get aboard, which can be complicated by violent waves and hostile crew members. U.S. forces routinely partner with other nations’ militaries to blunt piracy and weapons smuggling in the region.
Though it has been days since the two SEALs went missing, the Pentagon remains hopeful that they will be found alive. The gulf’s waters are warm, officials have said, noting that powerful swells and exhaustion are more of a concern than hypothermia.
“We are conducting an exhaustive search for our missing teammates,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, head of Central Command, said in the statement.
