Operation Megaphone
Operation Megaphone was the name given to the Canadian boarding of an American merchant ship in the Atlantic in August 2000.
The ship, GTS Katie, was chartered to return 580 Canadian armoured vehicles, as well as 390 sea containers worth of munitions and other military equipment, from deployment in Kosovo. (Oddly, other sources indicate it was carrying only five tanks and 200 armored vehicles)
Third Ocean Marine Navigation Company, the American owners, ordered the Russian captain, Vitaly Khlebnikov, not to enter the port due to a contractual dispute with a third party; for two weeks the ship circled the port refusing to dock and unload Canadian military equipment.
Canada exhausted their negotiations and sent a request to the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where the GTS Katie was registered, and were given permission to launch an operation to recover their equipment.
On August 3, fourteen Canadian troops, under the command of Captain Drew Robertson, from the Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan and Frigate HMCS Montréal rappeled down to the deck of the GTS Katie from Sea King Helicopters and forced it into port.
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