WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The crew of a
U.S.-flagged container ship has retaken control of the ship from Somali pirates,
but its captain is being held hostage, the freighter's second officer said
Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Pentagon officials said the U.S. Navy
destroyer Bainbridge and other ships are on the way to the scene, though they
are hundreds of kilometers away.
U.S. presidential foreign policy adviser Denis
McDonough said President Barack Obama is following the situation closely.
Richard Phillips, the captain, is being held captive
by pirates, Ken Quinn, one of the some 20 crew members onboard, told CNN in a
ship-to-shore phone interview.
This undated image shows the 17,000-ton
container ship Maersk Alabama, when it was operating under the name Maersk
Alva, which has been hijacked by Somalia pirates with 20 crew members
aboard, Wednesday April 8, 2009, while sailing from Salalah in Oman to the
Kenyan port of Mombassa via Djibouti.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
"There are four Somali pirates, and they've got our
captain," he said.
Phillips is being held in the U.S.-flagged ship
Maersk Alabama's 8.4-meter lifeboat, Quinn said.
The crew had a plan to make an exchange for their
captain.
"We had a pirate we took and kept him for 12 hours,"
Quinn told CNN.
"We tied him up and he was our prisoner," he said.
The crew gave back their prisoner but the pirates
reneged on the plan and are continuing to hold Phillips captive.
"So now we're just trying to offer them whatever we
can, food, but it's not working too good," he said.
Quinn said the crew is trying to hold off the pirates
for three more hours until a coalition warship is expected to arrive.
The Maersk Alabama was carrying food aid bound for
the Kenyan port of Mombasa when it was seized. Twenty American crew members were
on board.
Quinn said the pirates were armed with Kalashnikov
assault rifles, but the freighter's crew carried no weapons.
Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips
is seen at his home in Underhill, Vermont in this undated photo provided
by his family April 8, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
The
Americans locked themselves in the compartment that contains the ship's steering
gear, where they remained for about 12 hours.
The pirates "got frustrated because they couldn't
find us," he said.
The pirates sank the small boat they used once they
climbed aboard the freighter, Quinn said, so Phillips offered them the lifeboat
and some money.
Four hijackers boarded the Maersk Alabama earlier in
the day and one is in custody, according to Pentagon officials, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.
The three others tried to escape, and their status is
unknown, they said.
Earlier Wednesday, the chief executive officer of the
company that owns the Maersk Alabama played down the report that the vessel has
been retaken by U.S. crew members, who are unarmed.
"We have no facts that confirm the ship has been
retaken," John Reinhart, CEO and president of Norfolk, Virginia-based Maersk
LineLtd., said at a news conference 12 hours after the hijacking.
The ship was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was
attacked about 500 kilometers off Somalia's coast, he said.
The Maersk Line is one of the U.S. Department of
Defense's primary shipping contractors, but the Maersk Alabama is not under a
Pentagon contract, according to the U.S. military.
The attack was the sixth off Somali coast and the
Gulf of Aden within a week, but hijacking of a U.S.-operated ship in Africa is
rare.
According to experts, the last pirate attack of an
American vessel by African pirates was reported in 1804, off Libya.
NAIROBI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The USS Bainbridge on Thursday arrived where Somali pirates hijacked a Danish-owned, U.S.-operated cargo ship this week off the Horn of Africa, according to AP Radio.
Kevin Speers, a spokesman for the ship company Maersk, was quoted as saying that the U.S. destroyer reached the waters where the pirates were floating near the Maersk Alabama. Full story
WASHINGTON, Apr. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama
is following the pirate attack on a U.S. cargo ship off Somali coast closely,
his foreign policy adviser Denis McDonough said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Pentagon officials said a U.S. warship is on
its way to the scene. Full story
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon said on
Wednesday that the crew of a hijacked U.S.-flagged ship has retaken their ship
and taken one of the four hijackers into custody, CNN, CBS and other U.S. TV
networks reported.
Three other pirates were thrown overboard by crew members,
Pentagon sources were quoted as saying. Full story
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on
Wednesday that it is closely monitoring the hijacking of a U.S.-flagged ship off
the coast of Somalia.
Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that
the White House is "assessing a course of action" on the incident and the top
priority will be placed on the personal safety of the crewmembers aboard the
ship. Full story
