Visit, board, search, and seizure

A combined U.S. Navy/U.S. Coast Guard VBSS team from USS Chosin (CG-65) and embarked MSST personnel inspects a suspected pirate dhow in the Gulf of Aden, November 2009.

Visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS)[1] is the term used by United States military and law enforcement agencies for maritime boarding actions and tactics. VBSS teams are designed to capture enemy vessels, combat terrorism, piracy, and smuggling, and to conduct customs, safety and other inspections.