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A Naval Special Warfare Group 2 member during a visit, board, search, and seizure exercise aboard amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall, in Mayport, Florida, January 24, 2020.
US Navy/MCS2 Russell Rhodes Jr.
US special-operations and law-enforcement units have specialized training to board ships at sea.
Those skills aren't exclusive to Navy SEALs, and as broader strategic competition grows, especially in the vast Pacific region, more of those units will have to put them to use.
Boarding enemy vessels has been a staple of naval combat since ancient times. Before the age of gunpowder, the quickest and most efficient way to win a naval battle was to either ram and sink an enemy ship or board it.