On March 18 the destroyer USS Gonzalez intercepted a suspicious vessel towing two skiffs 25 nautical miles (46 km) off the Somali coast. The USS Gonzalez contacted the cruiser USS Cape St. George and requested assistance due to the common pirate profile shown. The USS Gonzalez sent two rigid-hulled inflatable boats to investigate. The boats' boarding attempt was repulsed by the pirates and they opened fire upon the capital ships with RPG's and other small arms fighting the first surface action of the United States Navy in the 21st century. The two American ships returned fire with small caliber guns. The largest of the three pirate vessels was soon set on fire and burned to the waterline by a tracer round from the USS Gonzalez. The two small skiffs were engaged and disabled by the USS Cape St. George. By the time the action was over one pirate was killed, five wounded, and 12 (including the 5 wounded) were captured. The Cape St. George received minor superficial damage but no US forces were injured. After the action was over a Dutch fast combat support ship, the HNLMS Amsterdam, provided medical assistance to the wounded and the two US ships continued on their mission.

Three Disarmament Action wherein on June 8, 1999 Ellen Moxley, Ulla Roder, and Angie Zelter used an inflatable boat and boarded a floating laboratory barge operated by DERA in Loch Goil,Scotland. Upon boarding, they unbolted a window and cut their way into the lab using chisels and wrecking bars. They proceeded to damage 20 computers, other electronic equipment and circuit boxes, jammed machinery with superglue, sand, and syrup and dumped logbooks, files, computer hardware, and papers overboard. They then draped banners over the lab, reading “Stop Nuclear Death Research,” and “TP2000 Opposes Research for Genocide.” The action commenced in a picnic of sandwiches and grapes as they awaited arrest. This group became known as the Trident Ploughshares.