41.   The guided missile cruiser USS Monterey stopped the Russian merchant vessel Wednesday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, the Pentagon said.

42.   The pirates fled, but the helicopter crew soon discovered that the crew of the merchant vessel had run out of food and water.

43.   The spill from the Honduran-flagged merchant vessel Georgios has shrunk to less than half its size, al-Janahi said.

44.   The USS Monterey stopped the Russian merchant vessel off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and the captain was cooperating, Defense Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

45.   Thousands of merchant vessels have been intercepted or boarded as part of the operation.

46.   Two merchant vessels and a Canadian military airplane were near the scene Friday night, but the weather prevented them from reaching survivors.

47.   Two merchant vessels were assisting in the search, the Coastguard said.

48.   U.S. warships are checking merchant vessels on the chance they are carrying al-Qaida terrorists.

49.   Her visit follows an attack by Tamil rebels Friday on a Japan-bound merchant vessel in northeastern Sri Lanka.

50.   And Israeli warships kept up their blockade of the ports of Beirut, Tyre and Sidon, preventing merchant vessels from delivering supplies.