The Maersk Alabama hijacking was a series of events involving piracy that began with four Somali pirates seizing the cargo ship MV Maersk Alabama 240 nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi) southeast of the Somali port city of Eyl. This event ended with the action of 12 April 2009.[1] It was the first successful pirate seizure of a ship registered under the American flag since the early 19th century.[2] It was the sixth vessel in a week to be attacked by pirates who had previously extorted ransoms in the tens of millions of dollars.
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The ship, with a crew of 20, loaded with 17,000 metric tons of cargo, was bound for Mombasa, Kenya. On 8 April 2009, four pirates based on the FV Win Far 161 attacked the ship.[3][4][5]
The crew members of the Alabama had received anti-piracy training from union training schools, and had drilled aboard the ship a day previously. Their training included the use of small arms, anti-terror, basic safety, first aid, and other security-related courses.[6][7] When the pirate alarm sounded early on Wednesday, 8 April, Chief Engineer Mike Perry brought 14 members of the crew into a "secure room" that the engineers had been in the process of fortifying for just such a purpose. As the pirates approached, the remaining crew fired flares; in addition, Chief Engineer Perry and 1st A/E Matt Fisher swung the ship's rudder, which swamped the pirate skiff.[8]
Nonetheless, the ship was successfully boarded. Chief Perry had initially taken main engine control away from the bridge and 1st A/E Matt Fisher had taken control of the steering gear. Chief Perry then shut down all ship systems and the entire vessel "went black." The pirates captured Capt. Phillips and several other crew members minutes after boarding, but soon found that they could not control the ship.
Chief Perry remained outside the secure room lying in wait, knife in hand, for a visit from the pirates who were trying to locate the missing crew members in order to gain control of the ship and presumably sail it to Somalia. Perry tackled the ringleader of the pirates and took him prisoner after a cat-and-mouse chase in a darkened engine room.[8]
The crew attempted to exchange the pirate they had captured[9] for the captain, but the exchange went awry and after the crew released their captive, the pirates refused to honor the agreement. Taking Capt. Phillips with them, they fled in one of the ship's covered lifeboats with nine days of food rations.[10]
On 8 April 2009, the destroyer USS Bainbridge was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in response to the hostage situation, and reached the Maersk Alabama early on 9 April.[11]
The Alabama was then escorted from the scene under armed guard towards its original destination of Mombasa. CNN and Fox News quoted sources stating that the pirates' strategy was to await the arrival of additional hijacked vessels carrying more pirates and additional hostages to use as human shields.[12][13]
Stand-off
A stand-off ensued between the USS Bainbridge and the pirates' lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama from 9 April 2009, where they held the captain of the ship, Richard Phillips, hostage. The lifeboat itself was covered and contained plenty of food and water but lacked basic comforts, including a toilet or ventilation.[14] The Bainbridge, equipped with rescue helicopters and lifeboats, stayed several hundred yards away, out of the pirates' range of fire. A P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft secured aerial footage and reconnaissance. Radio communication between the two ships was established. Four foreign vessels held by pirates headed towards the lifeboat. A total of 54 hostages were on two of the ships, citizens of China, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Tuvalu, Indonesia and Taiwan.[15][16]
On 10 April 2009, Phillips attempted to escape from the lifeboat but was recaptured after the captors fired shots. The pirates then threw a phone – and a two-way radio dropped to them by the U.S. Navy – into the ocean, fearing the Americans were somehow using the equipment to give instructions to the captain. The U.S. dispatched other warships, including the guided-missile frigate USS Halyburton and the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, to the site off the Horn of Africa. The pirates' strategy was to link up with their comrades, who were holding various other hostages, and get Phillips to Somalia, where they could hide him, making it difficult to stage a rescue and thus giving the pirates more leverage and a stronger negotiating position. Anchoring near shore would allow them to land quickly if attacked. Negotiations were ongoing between the pirates and the captain of the Bainbridge, who was under the direction of FBI hostage negotiators. The captors were also communicating with other pirate vessels by satellite phone.[15]
However, negotiations broke down hours after the pirates fired on the USS Halyburton, not long after sunrise Saturday in the Indian Ocean. The American frigate did not return fire and "did not want to escalate the situation". No crew members of the USS Halyburton were injured, as the shots were fired randomly by a pirate from the front hatch of the lifeboat. Videos of the shooting incident filmed by the USS Halyburton's shipboard intelligence team have been shown in the documentaries of the Maersk Alabama hijacking on the Discovery and History channels.[17]
"We are safe and we are not afraid of the Americans. We will defend ourselves if attacked", one of the pirates told Reuters by satellite phone. Phillips' family had gathered at his farmhouse in Vermont awaiting a resolution to the situation.[18]
On Saturday, 11 April 2009, the Maersk Alabama arrived in the port of Mombasa, Kenya under U.S. military escort. An 18-man security team was on board.[11] The FBI then secured the ship as a crime scene.[19]
Commander Castellano stated that as the winds picked up, tensions rose among the pirates and "we calmed them" and persuaded the pirates to be towed by the Bainbridge.[20]
On Sunday, 12 April 2009, Capt. Richard Phillips was rescued, reportedly in good condition, from his pirate captors.[21][22] The commander of United States Fifth Fleet Vice Admiral William E. Gortney reported the rescue began when Commander Frank Castellano, captain of the Bainbridge, determined that Phillips' life was in imminent danger and ordered the action. President Barack Obama had previously reaffirmed Navy standing orders to take action if it was determined the hostage's life was in immediate danger.[23][24]
The Vice Admiral reported that U.S. Navy SEAL snipers, reportedly from the Naval Special Warfare Development Group,[25] on the Bainbridge's fantail opened fire and killed the three pirates remaining in the lifeboat with a simultaneous volley of three shots. The SEALs had arrived Friday afternoon after being parachuted into the water near the Halyburton, which later joined with the Bainbridge.[8] At the time, the Bainbridge had the lifeboat under tow, approximately 25 to 30 yards astern.[26]
A fourth pirate, Abduhl Wal-i-Musi,[27] was aboard the USS Bainbridge negotiating a ransom and was taken into custody.[27]
The U.S. Navy evacuated Captain Phillips via rigid-hulled inflatable boat to the USS Bainbridge and then flew him by helicopter to the USS Boxer for medical evaluation.[21][22] In response to the rescue, Somali pirate commander Abdi Garad issued a threat to attack American interests in the region.[28]
The bodies of the three dead pirates were turned over by the US Navy to unidentified recipients in Somalia the last week of April 2009.[29]
The surviving pirate Abduhl Wal-i-Musi was brought to New York to face trial on charges including piracy under the law of nations, conspiracy to seize a ship by force, conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, and firearms-related charges. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 33 years, 9 months in prison on 16 February 2011.[30][31]
On 27 April, 2009, Maersk Alabama crew member Richard E. Hicks filed a lawsuit against his employer, Waterman Steamship Corporation and Maersk Line, Ltd., for knowingly sending him into pirate-infested waters near Somalia. Houston attorney Terry Bryant, who is representing Richard Hicks, said the ship owners knowingly exposed their employees to imminent danger and took no steps to provide appropriate levels of security and safety for their employees.[32]
Phillips is a 1979 graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and became captain of the MV Maersk Alabama in 2009.[33]
Soon after the rescue, U.S. President Barack Obama said, "I share the country's admiration for the bravery of Captain Phillips and his selfless concern for his crew. His courage is a model for all Americans."[34] On Saturday, 9 May, Capt. and Mrs. Phillips visited with President Obama in the Oval Office. A picture was released, but no details of the discussion.[35]
Following the hijacking, Phillips published a book titled A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea. Columbia Pictures optioned the book and acquired the life rights to Phillips in spring 2009.[36] In March 2011, it was announced that Tom Hanks would star in a Columbia film based on the hijacking and Phillips' book, scripted by Billy Ray, and produced by the team behind The Social Network.[36]
Captain Richard Phillips married Andrea Coggio in 1987. They have two children, Mariah and Daniel, and reside in Underhill, Vermont.[33] He is of Irish ancestry.[37]
The owners of U.S. Maersk Alabama donated the bullet-marked 5-ton fiberglass lifeboat upon which the pirates held Captain Phillips hostage to the UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida, in August 2009.[38][39] The lifeboat had recently been on loan to National Geographic for its “Real Pirates” exhibition in Norfolk, Va.[40]
Also on display at the Museum is a Mark 11 Mod 0 (SR-25) sniper rifle of the type used by the U.S. Navy SEALS who killed the pirates and freed Captain Phillips.
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