US Warships Sail In As Pirates Hold Captain

In Sky News
US warships have reached the area where an American sea captain is being held hostage by Somali pirates. Skip related content
The crew of the US-flagged freighter Maersk Alabama managed to retake control of the ship but their captain is still being held hostage on a lifeboat.

He had apparently offered himself as a hostage to save the lives of his colleagues.

The incident in the Indian Ocean, 300 miles east of Mogadishu, is the first pirate attack on an American-flagged vessel in 200 years.

The crew of 20 Americans have been trying to negotiate their captain's release while they waited for a US warship to arrive.

Second mate Ken Quinn said: "We are just trying to offer them whatever we can, food, but it is not working too good."

He said the four pirates were holding the captain hostage on the ship's lifeboat.

The ship's operator, Maersk Line, confirmed that the US crew had regained control of the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama after the pirates left the ship with one hostage.

No injuries had been reported for the rest of the crew left aboard.

Maritime officials said the Maersk Alabama was carrying food aid for Somalia and Uganda from Djibouti to Mombasa, a Kenyan port, when it was seized far out in the Indian Ocean.

The seizure was the latest in an escalation in pirate attacks off the lawless Horn of Africa country of Somalia.

The Pentagon said the US Navy destroyer Bainbridge was en route.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was very worried by the hijacking and called for world action to end the "scourge" of piracy.

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