The U.S. Navy provided five carrier battle groups with one more in transit to the theater, two amphibious ready groups, and two amphibious task forces for a total of more than 70 surface combatants and submarines plus 37 Military Sealift Command ships.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Section IV: Building a Two-MRC Force for the 21st Century

The ship carried a Navy mobile security team that is authorized to respond to perceived threats, as do all military-contracted ships in the 5th Fleet's area of command in the waters surrounding the turbulent Middle East and East Africa, the Navy said.

CNN: U.S. cargo ship fires warning shots in Persian Gulf, Navy says

However, the need for Chinese junks has decreased sharply as wooden vessels are replaced by steel-hulled ships, and today only three masters can claim full command of this technology.

UNESCO: CULTURE

U.S. missile defense ships are already in the Mediterranean and they are able to operate under NATO command -- under NATO operational control when necessary in a crisis.

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You command a ship and its crew and systems as you flee a pursuing fleet of rebel ships through the galaxy, traveling through alien systems, sensor-destroying nebulas, and shield-bashing asteroid fields.

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However, Russia, which has sent a series of naval ships to the Horn of Africa, says it will not serve under NATO or EU command.

ECONOMIST: Piracy and private enterprise

In 2012 the number of successful pirate seizures of merchant ships fell from a 2009 figure of 38 to 21 according to the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) command in Bahrain but another statistic published by the group highlights a more troubling trend.

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