American crew retake control of hijacked cargo ship; detain 1 pirate

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American crew retake control of hijacked cargo ship; detain 1 pirate

1 hour, 12 minutes ago

By Katharine Houreld, The Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya - Pentagon officials said Wednesday that the American crew of a

U.S.-flagged cargo ship had retaken control from Somali pirates who hijacked the

vessel far off the Horn of Africa.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because information was still

preliminary. But they said the hijacked crew had apparently contacted the

private company that operates the ship.

At a noon news conference in Norfolk, Va, Maersk Line Ltd. CEO Reinhart

said that the company was working to contact families of the crew.

" Speculation is a dangerous thing when you're in a fluid environment. I will not

confirm that the crew has overtaken this ship, " he said.

Capt. ph , an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told

The Associated Press that his son Shane, the second in command on the ship, had

called him to say the crew had regained control.

A U.S. official said the 20 crew members had retaken control of the Maersk

Alabama and had one pirate in custody.

" The crew is back in control of the ship, " a U.S. official said at midday,

speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on

the record. " It's reported that one pirate is on board under crew control - the

other three were trying to flee, " the official said. The status of the other

pirates was unknown, the official said, but they were reported to " be in the

water. "

Another U.S. official, citing a readout from an interagency conference call,

said: " Multiple reliable sources are now reporting that the Maersk Alabama is

now under control of the U.S. crew. The crew reportedly has one pirate in

custody. The status of others is unclear, they are believed to be in the water. "

The ship was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was hijacked,

said Beck-Bang, spokesman for the Copenhagen-based container shipping

group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

It was the sixth vessel seized within a week, a rise that analysts attribute to

a new strategy by Somali pirates who are operating far from the warships

patrolling the Gulf of Aden.

Cmdr. Jane , a spokeswoman for the U.S. navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet,

said that it was the first pirate attack " involving U.S. nationals and a

U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory. " She did not give an exact timeframe.

, the wife of Capt. of Underhill, Vt., said her

husband has sailed in those waters " for quite some time " and a hijacking was

perhaps " inevitable. "

Somali pirates are trained fighters who frequently dress in military fatigues

and use speedboats equipped with satellite phones and GPS equipment. They are

typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and various

types of grenades. Far out to sea, their speedboats operate from larger mother

ships.

The U.S. navy said that the ship was hijacked early Wednesday about 450

kilometres southeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia.

Navy spokesman Lt. Christensen said the closest U.S. ship at the time of

the hijacking was 555 kilometres away.

The Combined Maritime Forces issued an advisory Wednesday highlighting several

recent attacks that occurred hundreds of kilometres off the Somali coast and

stating that merchant mariners should be increasingly vigilant when operating in

those waters.

The advisory said the " scope and magnitude of problem cannot be understated. "

Mavrinac, the head of maritime research at investment firm Jefferies &

Co., noted that it is very unusual for an international ship to be U.S.-flagged

and carry a U.S. crew. Although about 95 per cent of international ships carry

foreign flags because of the lower cost and other factors, he said, ships that

are operated by or for the U.S. government - such a food aid ships like Maersk

Alabama - have to carry U.S. flags, and therefore, employ a crew of U.S.

citizens.

There are fewer than 200 U.S.-flagged vessels in international waters, said

Larry , chair of the Global Business and Transportation Department at SUNY

Maritime College in New York.