Marines Climb Aboard Vessel as Helicopters Circle Burning Boats

U.S. Marines climbed a ladder onto the side of a vessel while helicopters circled boats left burning on the water during a maritime interdiction operation in the Pacific Ocean on September 16.

Footage released by the U.S. Marine Corps shows a small boat tied up alongside a larger fishing-style vessel as Marines haul themselves up its hull. Other clips, filmed from the air and from the deck of the USS San Antonio, show a helicopter lifting off, a door gunner manning a mounted weapon and black smoke billowing from boats on the sea.

Marines with Littoral Combat Force-24 carried out the operation alongside sailors from the amphibious transport dock, the Marine Corps said.

U.S. forces have been deployed to the waters of Latin America under U.S. Southern Command in a campaign the military says aims to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland.