WASHINGTON, April 12 (Xinhua) -- A hostage crisis which has haunted the U.S. for days was solved on Sunday with the kidnapped American captain rescued unharmed by the Navy to the cheers of his crew and three Somali pirates killed and a fourth taken in custody.
For the first time since a U.S.-flagged Danish cargo boat was attacked by Somali pirates on Wednesday, President Barack Obama officially released an announcement to comment on the incident, saying that he was very pleased with the successful rescue of Captain Richard Phillips and proud of the efforts of U.S. military and many other departments to make it happen.
However, the incident, as the first hostage crisis at sea in the past 200 years of the country, reminded the U.S. of the urgency to halt the rise of piracy in the region and work with partners to prevent future attacks, the president said.
Maersk Alabama, the cargo ship owned by a Virginia-based shipping company with 20 American crew on board, was attacked by a group of Somali pirates about 400 kilometers away from Somali coast, as the sixth foreign boats that was pirate-victimized in no more than five days.
Although the crew took over the control of the boat immediately and briefly captured one of the four pirates, their captain Phillips, who surrendered himself to safeguard his men, was taken hostage with other pirates in a lifeboat floating near the Maersk Alabama.
Shocked by the incident, the U.S. government quickly responded to it with military deployment involving warships, helicopters and other surveillance devices, and negotiations experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
In the mean time, the cargo boat, which was on its way to Mombasa, Kenya to deliver food aid for refugees in Kenya, Somali and Uganda, took off again to its destination under the escort of a U.S. security team.
Despite efforts to solve the crisis in a peaceful way, the U.S. military found no sign of give-in from pirates in the lifeboat who recaptured the captain when he attempted to escape by swimming to the U.S. warship and insisted on their request for ransom.
When the standoff ran into the fifth day and captain Phillips was facing an imminent danger of life -- the pirates pointing a rifle at his back, the U.S. Navy's Seals, special operation forces, launched a daring rescue with the presidential authorization, freeing the captain unharmed and killing his three captors.
U.S. media reports said that Phillips' crew erupted in cheers aboard their ship and celebrated for the good news by waving an American flag and firing flares.
The Navy said that the 50-year-old captain from Underhill, Vermont, was not hurt in the gunfire and was currently resting comfortably on the USS Bainbridge and then flown to the San Diego-based USS Boxer for the medical exam.
Phillips' family told reporters through a spokesman that they had spoken by phone to the captain shortly after he was freed, and felt "so happy and relieved."
The fourth pirate, as U.S. officials said, has surrendered and remained in military custody, but FBI said that his detention would change as the situation became "more of a criminal issue than a military issue."
In his statement, Obama said that he shared 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," he added.
