US captain held by Somali pirates is freed
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Independent Minds
US cargo ship captain Richard Phillips has been freed from captivity at the hands of Somali pirates in a dramatic ending to a five-day standoff with American naval forces, the US Navy said today.
US television channel CNN said Phillips was freed unharmed and that the U.S. military killed three of four pirates who had held him hostage on a lifeboat after trying to seize his vessel. It said a fourth pirate was in custody.
"I can tell you that he is free and that he is safe," Navy Lieutenant Commander John Daniels said. He had no information on how the rescue happened or the physical condition of the captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama container ship.
Maersk said it received word of Phillips' rescue from the U.S. Navy at 1330 EDT (1730 GMT) and informed the jubilant crew of the Alabama.
"We are all absolutely thrilled to learn that Richard is safe and will be reunited with his family," Maersk Line chief executive John Reinhart said in a statement.
Phillips, 53, was the first American taken captive by Somali pirate gangs who have marauded in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes for years.
Three U.S. warships had been watching the situation.
US Navy spotters saw Phillips on Sunday morning, ship owner Maersk Line said in a statement.
The Maersk Alabama, a container carrying food aid for Somalians, was attacked far out in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday, but its 20 American crew apparently fought off the pirates and regained control.
Relatives said Phillips volunteered to go with the pirates in a Maersk Alabama lifeboat in exchange for the crew.
Joseph Murphy, whose son, Shane, was Phillips's second in command and took over the Alabama after pirates left with Phillips, said in a statement read by CNN, "Our prayers have been answered on this Easter Sunday."
"My son and our family will forever be indebted to Capt. Phillips for his bravery. If not for his incredible personal sacrifice, this kidnapping - an act of terror - could have turned out much worse," said Murphy.
"The captain is a hero," one crew member shouted from the 17,000-ton ship as it docked in Kenya's Mombasa port under darkness on Saturday. "He saved our lives by giving himself up."
Experts had expected a quick end to the standoff, but the pirates were holding out for both a ransom and safe passage home. Friends told Reuters the gang wanted $2 million.
The saga has thrown world attention on the long-running piracy phenomenon off Somalia that has hiked shipping insurance costs and disrupted international trade.
Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of Mombasa-based East African Seafarers Assistance Program, said the rescue appeared to be the work of frogmen and the feat would change the stakes in future pirate attacks.
"This is a big wake-up to the pirates. It raises the stakes. Now they may be more violent, like the pirates of old," he said.
Pirates have generally treated hostages well, sometimes roasting goat meat for them and even passing phones round so they can call loved-ones. The worst violence reported has been the occasional beating. No hostages are known to have been killed by pirates.
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Comments
Well, that isn't the idea given by the rest of the article at all. As I read it, Captain Phillips was removed from the pirates' custody with lethal force. Giving the pirates any credit in this matter is disingenuous at best.
Irrespective of the origins of Somali piracy, it has now become an organised criminal activity that completely nullifies whatever political or moral arguments can be offered to excuse it. It must be made utterly plain to such brigands that holding hostages for monetary gain will not be tolerated. Those currently held must be freed without condition (if necessary, extracted from their captors with lethal force) and further acts of piracy should be met with decisive force aimed at both the pirates and their shore-based support structures.
ihateutoo and jpeditor read it properly.
The US Chest thumping begins.
Credit where credit is due to The Independent's team for correcting their error.
We will now be treated to hare brained plans to exterminate all pirates operating in or from Somilia(sp?) & also destroy the country by bombing it 'back to the stone age'. The people of that region don't have the conveniences most American have. They are used to living without regular electric service, civil order or even an effective government. These people would make do & manage to survive.
They are not pampered, effete Yanks who expect cold beer in the fridge, pure water from a tap. Many of my fellow Yanks can't understand that. It will be amusing to see the plans for punishing the pirates & destroying their country. There is little of what we Yanks call an infra-structure in Somilia. We Yanks could destroy Somilia's infra-structure but the people would go on by improvising.
You in the UK will get some hearty laughs when Jingos in the USA blither about destroying Somilia's pirates nests & punishing the pirates.
We Yanks were very luck this time. We, Yanks, may not be so lucky the next time.
You insult every decent person who tries to get by even if they're not well off.
Yes, Somalia is a failed state but tolerating pirate gangs will do nothing to correct the situation.
I hope they get the Barbary Coast treatment, clear out the whole hornets' nest.
Also, its Somalia. Used, and spelt correctly, many times on this page.
Like I said, my usage is related to my education, I earned & was awarded an MS. OK, troll, go back to high school with your language police schtick. If you ever study at a university in the USA, you might learn UK usages, if you apply yourself.
Where are you coming from? I speak, write & spell as I like. Americans are like that. Make sure you get paid if you decide to reply, troll.
I use some English spellings, and some American. I learned to read from Puffin and Penguin books. Also, I just think grey looks better than gray. But I draw the line at extraneous syllables in aluminum.
Es lastima que ud habla el Esponal como un gringo.
When I worked & lived in Oz in the 1970's my mates called me Yank. I'm gringo in mi barrio even to people who use Hindi, Arabic & Yiddish.
If you wish you could take up exercise. You get hurt badly jumping to conclusions & running people down. If you plan to go into the bush, you will see that gringos are most effete. It took me months to learn to stay alive in the Thai bush.
Cheers, Yank, if fortune smiles on you, you may get back to Oz. Miami is an interesting place. I went to Miami in 1960 when Castro threw out los Yanquis. I lived there for 10 years. My foster parents took me to Indian River, Co, Fl & I was raised there.
When I was in the USAF, I ended up as a typist & trouble shooter for my CO. He taught me UK English. As you know, people in Miami often affect British English. When you leave the USA, one must use UK spellings & syntax. I use the version of English which gets me the most money. The INDEPENDT & GUARDIAN use UK English, so I write Brit style then. Same thing in Canada & Oz.
My command of Spanish is about Sesame St. level, which is just enough to understand your regret. Although it is a rather common to hear in Miami. I can see your hands flying up in exasperation. :)
"I use the version of English which gets me the most money." That's damned good advice. Thank you.
BTW, the obscenities are different in each patois. You must be very careful. For instance: If you ask for a loaf of bread en el Espanol de PR & you ask a Cuban (Cubano), you will be asking for a long bolus of feces. If you are in the wrong part of S Fl, you will get a long, fresh bolus of feces-if you don't get shot. Hispanics can be "feo y formal'. That's from Mejico. In English it means: ultra polite & formal. If a Hispanic likes & trusts you, you can exchange obscene words. But be careful.
Miami is a fun place. I got used to the drive by shootings. I can still hit the ground quick. I lived in S Miami. Dadeland was close. Drive by's were common there. Dadeland has probably been closed by now.
You probably know by now not to pick up anything that washes ashore at the beach. If you pick up or get near a brick of marahuana or other dope-you can get shot.
Miami is interesting. If you are honest-you can always get a job. Every cheap crook from the Miss River on east tries their scams in Miami, They get picked up by the cops quickly. Everybody in S Fl can spot ever con known in the Americas & W Europe. The judges like to lock up crooks.
That means that-if you are honest-the word gets around. Everybody knows everybody in Miami (or knows somebody who knows you).
Subsequent piracy attempts will be much more violent. You have to bear in mind that the value of life in many part of Africa is very low. So when there isnt much to loose, high risks are taken. Watch out all shipping personnel in that area - there will be blood ...
You don't cure the problem by feeding it with ransom money etc. Sooner or later the free world must take a stand and fight back.
I read the gov't of the Seychelles is getting worried it could spread to their tourist resorts, there's already been incidents with their fishing fleet.
Yes you are right.
The solution is a stable and independently supported gov in Somalia (even it is an Islamic gov) without interference from the USA.
You mean a "War on piracy"? Like the "War on drugs" which has been a dismal and expensive failure? Piracy, like peddling drugs, is attractive because it is profitable. As long as it remains profitable, there will be people willing to do it, no matter what the risks involved. Tooling up the crews of ships will just lead to bigger and bloodier conflicts with pirates.
Right now, piracy in the Indian Ocean/Gulf of Aden has some risks (infrequent but high) but enormous and frequent pay-offs that have turned the pirate towns into boom towns. What is needed is to make the risks incredibly high and the rewards minute. Impose 'no-sail zones' around the imperiled shipping lanes and make it known that any suspicious vessel in the zones will be destroyed without warning. Start assessing huge penalties on commercial entities that pay 'tribute' to pirates by paying ransoms to reduce the ease of extracting money from shipping companies. Rescue hostages in the most dramatic way possible with the objective of causing the maximum casualties amongst the pirates and their allies.
If it becomes clear that piracy is nothing but voting for an early death with limited or non-existant monetary rewards, then people will be less inclined to go into the 'business'.