The U.S. Navy says it has detained seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
The detentions are the first made by a multi-national force patrolling the waters off Somalia.
The Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says the suspected pirates were detained Wednesday after a merchant ship sent a distress call.
The Navy says the crew of the Marshall Islands-flagged ship Polaris reported that gunmen had tried to board the vessel from a skiff.
The Navy says a team from the USS , a guided missile cruiser, intercepted a skiff matching the description given by the merchant vessel and detained the seven men on board.
It says the suspects will be transferred to a temporary holding facility on a military supply ship.
Last month, the Navy announced the formation of the multinational task force designed to combat piracy in the region.
The International Maritime Bureau says there was a dramatic increase in piracy last year, with pirates attacking more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden.