High-Seas Hostage Standoff

[jet_porkins]

Why hasn't this been already reported?

from http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=7302715&page=1

Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vt., is captain of the Maersk Alabama, a 17,000-ton container ship carrying relief aid to Mombasa, Kenya. On Wednesday, the ship was attacked by Somali pirates. While the unarmed crew repelled the initial attack, Phillips reportedly prevented a bloody counterattack by the pirates by offering himself as a hostage.

from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30103371/

NAIROBI, Kenya - In a riveting high-seas drama, an unarmed American crew wrested control of their U.S.-flagged cargo ship from Somali pirates Wednesday and sent them fleeing to a lifeboat with the captain as hostage.

A sailor who spoke to The Associated Press said the entire 20-member crew had been taken hostage but managed to seize one pirate and then successfully negotiated their own release. The man did not identify himself during the brief conversation.

from http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=7305282&page=1

Phillips, 53, had previously volunteered to be a hostage after his unarmed men took back their freighter, the Maersk Alabama, from the pirates. The captain stepped forward to be a hostage to avoid a bloody battle with the gun-toting pirates.

He and four pirates, one who was seriously injured when the 20 American crewmembers of the Alabama retook their ship, have been bobbing in the water for three days. The boat can hold 76 people, so there is room for them to move around at times.

The American captain being held hostage by Somali pirates dove into the water during the night in an attempt to escape but was quickly recaptured, Defense Department officials said today....At one point during the night, Phillips courageously leaped off and began swimming for freedom, officials told ABC News. Almost immediately, a pirate jumped in after Phillips and dragged him back to the boat, officials said.

tl;dr American captain of a supply/aid boat due to Kenya was boarded by Somali pirates. The crew initially fought off the first attack, but the captain offered himself as a hostage when a bloody counterattack by the pirates was imminent. The crew captured one of the pirates, and eventually wrestled down the pirates, sending 4 pirates and the hostage captain on a lifeboat. The crew retook the ship after the captain was claimed as hostage. Now there's a standoff between a U.S. navy warship and the lifeboat.

edit: The current situation:

The lifeboat was said to be "dead in the water' after running out of fuel early yesterday, and was drifting in calm seas within sight of the Bainbridge.

U.S.S. Bainbridge:

 

[Lucid]

Jack Bauer will save the day.

 

[Dog--]

So a ship with a giant cannon on it got taken over? By a bunch of Somali pirates?

What a bunch of dumbasses aboard that ship.. They'd surely have guns with them, though, right?

 

[Solaris]

I don't see why we don't arm the ships?

 

[Warped]

I don't see why we don't arm the ships?

my thoughts exactly but i guess more and more sailors are gaining weapon/tactic training and imo, they should add gun turrets and a few navy seals on the bigger vessels. or they could just napalm the samali coastline and stop the problem at the beginning.

Also they sent food and batteries to the small boat....why??

 

[Raziaar]

The American captain being held hostage by Somali pirates dove into the water during the night in an attempt to escape but was quickly recaptured, Defense Department officials said today....At one point during the night, Phillips courageously leaped off and began swimming for freedom, officials told ABC News. Almost immediately, a pirate jumped in after Phillips and dragged him back to the boat, officials said.

Phillips: See ya, suckers! I'm swimming to freedom! <leap> *SPLASH*

Somali Pirate: YOU'RE SWIMMING THE WRONG WAY! AMERICA IS IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

Somali Pirate: He's just going to get himself drowned... he's swimming out to open ocean. I better go in after him before he hurts himself <leap> *SPLASH*

 

[Warped]

its a shame they can't throw a sleeping gas canister into the small boat.

This map shows all the piracy and armed robbery incidents reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre during 2009. Red shows attacks, yellow represents attempted attacks, and purple indicates suspicious vessels. Credit: Google/TerraMetrics/NASA/Data SIO/NOAA/U.S. Navy/NGA/GEBCO/Europa Technologies

Today's
Pirates Hearken to 'Golden Age'

 

[jet_porkins]

So a ship with a giant cannon on it got taken over? By a bunch of Somali pirates?

What a bunch of dumbasses aboard that ship.. They'd surely have guns with them, though, right?

That's the ship that the navy sent to face the hostage situation with.

The boat that was attacked is this one:

 

[Warped]

LOL, everyone forget??

The man was freed today:

For four days, an American sea captain was held hostage by four Somali pirates. The waiting ended when U.S. Navy snipers killed three of Capt. Richard Phillips' captors. Phillips had been rescued uninjured. But Adm. Rich Gurnon, who described the captain as "the good shepherd who willingly exchanged his life for the lives of his flock," cautioned that the end of one hostage situation should not be taken as the end of the growing problem of piracy.

HEADSHOT!!!

 

[Ennui]

Triple kill!

 

[Sir Phoenixx]

More... After the captain was rescued and the 3 pirates were killed by the Navy SEALs, Somali pirates vow to "retaliate" somehow: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090413/ap_on_re_af/piracy_somali_view

All crews should get weapons training and arm themselves with some cheap weapons and equipment.(AKs are only about $500 USD...)

 

[Warped]

U.S. lawmaker safe after plane fired on in Somalia, officials say

(CNN) -- A plane carrying U.S. Rep. Donald Payne was fired on Monday at the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, but the aircraft departed safely and landed without incident in Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. State Department officials said.

 

[CptStern]

Islamic militants =/= pirates

Suspected Islamist militants fired at U.S. Congressman Donald Payne Monday as he flew out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-13-voa27.cfm

 

[CyberPitz]

Islamic militants =/= pirates



http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-13-voa27.cfm

Pfft, I'm sure they've downloaded a few songs or movies before.

 

[Adabiviak]

Triple kill!

ha! Done in that deep, Quake announcer voice. I heard about this on NPR today: pwnt.