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History
The Maersk Alabama
hijacking was a series of maritime events that began on 8 April
2009 with four pirates in the Indian Ocean seizing the cargo
ship MV Maersk Alabama 240 nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi)
southeast of Eyl, Somalia. The siege ended after a rescue effort
by the U.S. Navy on 12 April 2009. It was the first successful
pirate seizure of a ship registered under the American flag
since the early 19th century. Many news reports referenced the
last pirate seizure as being during the Second Barbary War in
1815, although other incidents had occurred as late as 1821. 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.
The story of the incident was reported in the 2010 book A
Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days
at Sea by Stephan Talty and Captain Richard Phillips, who had
been master of the vessel at the time of the incident. The
hijacking also inspired the 2013 film Captain Phillips.
The hijacking
The ship, originating from Salalah, Oman was bound for Mombasa,
Kenya after a stop in Djibouti with a crew of 23, loaded with
17,000 metric tons (19,000 short tons) of cargo. On 8 April
2009, four pirates based on FV Win Far 161 attacked the ship.
All four of the pirates were between 17 and 19 years old,
according to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
The crew members of Maersk 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. When the pirate alarm sounded early on
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, Perry
and 1st A/E (Assistant Engineer) Matt Fisher swung the ship's
rudder, which swamped the pirate skiff.
Nonetheless, the ship was boarded. Perry had initially taken
main engine control away from the bridge and 1st A/E Matt Fisher
had taken control of the steering gear. Perry then shut down all
ship systems and the entire vessel "went black." The pirates
captured Captain Richard Phillips and several other crew members
minutes after boarding, but soon found that they could not
control the ship.
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. Pirate ringleader Abduwali Muse cut his
hand trying to keep Perry's knife away from his neck. The pirate
was then tied up and his wounds were treated by Second Mate Ken
Quinn.
Later, after suffering in the overheated secure room for hours,
the crew attempted to exchange the pirate whom they had captured
for the captain, but the exchange went awry and the pirates
refused to honor the agreement after the crew released their
captive. Captain Phillips escorted the pirates to a lifeboat to
show them how to operate it, but then the pirates fled in the
lifeboat with Phillips as a hostage.
On 8 April the United States Navy guided-missile destroyer USS
Bainbridge DDG-96 and the guided-missile frigate USS Halyburton
FFG-40 were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in response to the
hostage situation, Halyburton carrying two Sikorsky SH-60B
Seahawk helicopters on board. The ships reached Maersk Alabama
early on 9 April.
Maersk Alabama was then escorted from the scene to its original
destination of Mombasa where Captain Larry D. Aasheim took
command of the ship. Phillips had relieved Aasheim nine days
earlier. CNN and Fox News quoted sources stating that the
pirates' strategy was to await the arrival of additional
hijacked vessels carrying more pir
Rescue
A stand-off began on 9 April between Bainbridge, Halyburton, and
the pirates' lifeboat from Maersk Alabama, on which they held
Phillips hostage. The lifeboat itself was covered and contained
plenty of food and water but lacked basic comforts, including a
toilet or ventilation. Bainbridge was equipped with a ScanEagle
UAV and Rigid-hulled inflatable boats. Both vessels stayed
several hundred yards away, out of the pirates' range of fire. A
P-3C 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 scene. A total of 54 hostages were on two of the ships,
citizens of China, Germany, Russia, the Philippines, Tuvalu,
Indonesia, and Taiwan.
On 10 April 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 United
States dispatched another warship, amphibious assault ship USS
Boxer LHD-4, 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 to get Phillips to Somalia where
they could hide him and make a rescue more difficult for the
Americans. Anchoring near shore would allow them to land quickly
if attacked. Negotiations were ongoing between the pirates and
the captain of Bainbridge and FBI hostage negotiators. The
captors were also communicating with other pirate vessels by
satellite phone.
However, negotiations broke down hours after the pirates fired
on Halyburton not long after sunrise on Saturday, 11 April. The
American frigate did not return fire and "did not want to
escalate the situation". No crew members of Halyburton were
injured from the gunfire, as the shots were fired haphazardly by
a pirate from the front hatch of the lifeboat.
"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.
On Saturday, 11 April 2009, Maersk Alabama arrived in the port
of Mombasa, Kenya, under U.S. military escort. An 18-man
security team was on board. The FBI then secured the ship as a
crime scene.
Commander Frank Castellano, the commanding officer of
Bainbridge, 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 destroyer.
On Sunday, 12 April 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Snipers of Naval
Special Warfare Development Group ( DEVGRU ) Red Squadron ( "The
Tribe" ) armed with semi-automatic Knights Armament Company
Mk.11 Mod 0 ( 7.62-51mm NATO ) Sniper Rifles, engaged and killed
the three pirates on the lifeboat. Captain Phillips was rescued
uninjured. Commander Castellano, with prior authorization from
higher authority, ordered the action after determining Phillips'
life was in immediate danger, citing reports that a pirate was
pointing an AK-47 rifle at Phillips' back. Navy SEAL snipers,
from SEAL Team Six, fired approximately 6-7 shots from
Bainbridge's fantail, killing the three pirates with bullets to
the head. The SEALs had arrived Friday afternoon after being
parachuted into the water near Halyburton, which later joined
with Bainbridge. At the time, Bainbridge had the lifeboat under
tow, approximately 25 to 30 yards (23 to 27 m) astern. One of
the pirates killed was Ali Aden Elmi, the last name of another
was Hamac, and the third has not been identified in
English-language press reports. A fourth pirate, Abduwali Muse,
aboard Bainbridge and negotiating for Phillips' release while
being treated for an injury sustained in the takeover of Maersk
Alabama, remained in custody.
The bodies of the three dead pirates were turned over by the
U.S. Navy to unidentified recipients in Somalia in the last week
of April 2009
UDT-SEAL museum
The owners of MV Maersk
Alabama donated the bullet-marked 5-ton fiberglass lifeboat upon
which the pirates held Captain Phillips hostage to the National
Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida, in August 2009.
The lifeboat had recently been on loan to National Geographic
for its "Real Pirates" exhibition at the Nauticus marine science
museum in Norfolk, Virginia. The producers of the Captain
Phillips film visited the Museum in the process of re-creating
the lifeboat and interiors for the set. An example of the Boeing
Insitu ScanEagle used to monitor the crisis is also on display,
as is the Mark 11 Mod 0 (SR-25) sniper rifle of the type used by
the U.S. Navy SEALS to kill the pirates and free Phillips. The
actual ScanEagle used in the mission is on display along with
shell casings at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. |
