Maersk Alabama Hijacking

Part of Piracy in Somalia, Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa

Date 8–12 April 2009

Location 240 miles off the coast of Somalia

Result Hostage rescued

Abduwali Muse arrested

Belligerents

United States Somali pirates

Commanders and leaders

United States Barack Obama

United States Frank Castellano Abduwali Muse

Strength

USS Bainbridge

USS Halyburton

USS Boxer

United States Navy SEALs 1 lifeboat

4 pirates

1 hostage

Casualties and losses

none 3 killed

1 captured

1 hostage rescued unharmed

[show] v t e

OEF – Horn of Africa

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Piracy in Somalia

The Maersk Alabama hijacking was a series of maritime events that began with four pirates in
the Indian Ocean seizing the cargo ship MV Maersk Alabama 240 nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi)
southeast of the port city of Eyl, Somalia. The seige ended after a rescue effort by the U.S. Navy
on 12 April 2009.[1] It was the first successful pirate seizure of a ship registered under the
American flag since the early 19th century.[2] 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 book A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs,
and Dangerous Days at Sea (2010) 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, with Tom Hanks playing Richard Phillips in the title role and Barkhad Abdi playing
Abduwali Muse.

Contents    [hide]

1 Timeline of events

1.1 Hijacking

1.2 Rescue

2 Trial

3 Lawsuit

4 UDT-SEAL museum

5 See also

6 Notes

7 External links

Timeline of events[edit]

Hijacking[edit]

The ship, with a crew of 20, loaded with 17,000 metric tons of cargo, was bound for Mombasa,
Kenya. On 8 April 2009, four pirates based on the FV Win Far 161 attacked the ship.[3][4][5] All
four of the pirates were between 17 and 19 years old, according to U.S. Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates.[6]
Maersk Alabama in 2009.

The crew members of the 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.[7][8] When the pirate
alarm sounded early on Wednesday, 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 Matt Fisher swung the ship's rudder, which swamped the pirate skiff.[9]

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. The seamen on watch at the time
stabbed one pirate in the hand.[9]

The crew attempted to exchange the pirate they had captured[10] for the captain, but the
exchange went awry and after the crew released their captive, the pirates refused to honor the
agreement. Captain Phillips escorted the pirates to a lifeboat to show them how to operate it,
but then the pirates fled with the Captain.[11]

On 8 April 2009, the destroyer USS Bainbridge was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in response to
the hostage situation, and reached the Maersk Alabama early on 9 April.[12][13]

The Maersk Alabama was then escorted from the scene under armed guard towards its original
destination of Mombasa where Captain Larry D. Aasheim retook command of the ship. Phillips
had relieved Aasheim nine days earlier.[14] CNN and Fox News quoted sources stating that the
pirates' strategy was to await the arrival of additional hijacked vessels carrying more pirates and
additional hostages to use as human shields.[15][16]

Rescue[edit]

Stand-off
The 28 foot lifeboat where Captain Richard Phillips and the 4 Somali pirates were held up as seen
from a US Navy ScanEagle UAV.

USS Bainbridge shadows the lifeboat, near the lower right corner of the picture.

A stand-off ensued between the USS Bainbridge, the frigate USS Halyburton, and the pirates'
lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama from 9 April 2009, where they held Captain Richard Phillips
hostage. The lifeboat itself was covered and contained plenty of food and water but lacked basic
comforts, including a toilet or ventilation.[17] The Bainbridge was equipped with a ScanEagle
drone and RHIB boats. The Halyburton held two SH-60B helicopters on board. Both vessels
stayed several hundred yards away, out of the pirates' range of fire. A P-3 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 lifeboat. A total of 54
hostages were on two of the ships, citizens of China, Germany, Russia, the Philippines, Tuvalu,
Indonesia, and Taiwan.[18][19]

On 10 April 2009, 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 U.S. dispatched another warship, amphibious assault ship
USS Boxer, 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 the Bainbridge, who was under the direction of FBI hostage negotiators. The captors
were also communicating with other pirate vessels by satellite phone.[18]

However, negotiations broke down hours after the pirates fired on the Halyburton not long after
sunrise on Saturday, 11 April 2009. The American frigate did not return fire and "did not want to
escalate the situation". No crew members of the Halyburton were injured from the gunfire, as
the shots were fired haphazardly by a pirate from the front hatch of the lifeboat.[20]

"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.[21]
Captain Phillips (right) with Commander Frank Castellano of the USS Bainbridge after being
rescued.

On Saturday, 11 April 2009, the Maersk Alabama arrived in the port of Mombasa, Kenya under
U.S. military escort. An 18-man security team was on board.[12] The FBI then secured the ship as
a crime scene.[22]

Commander Castellano 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 Bainbridge.[23]

On Sunday, April 12, Navy SEAL marksmen opened fire and killed the three pirates on the
lifeboat; Phillips was rescued in good condition.[24][25] The Bainbridge captain Commander
Frank 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 assault rifle at Phillips' back.[25][26][27] Navy SEAL snipers, from "SEAL Team Six",[28]
opened fire nearly simultaneously from Bainbridge's fantail, killing the three pirates with bullets
to the head.[24][29] The SEALs had arrived Friday afternoon after being parachuted into the
water near the Halyburton, which later joined with the Bainbridge.[9] At the time, the
Bainbridge had the lifeboat under tow, approximately 25 to 30 yards astern.[30] One of the
pirates killed was named Ali Aden Elmi, the last name of another was Hamac, and the third has
not been identified in English-language press reports.[31] A fourth pirate, Abduwali Muse,
aboard the Bainbridge and negotiating for Phillips' release while being treated for an injury
sustained in the takeover of Maersk Alabama, surrendered and was taken into 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.[32]

Trial[edit]

The surviving pirate, Abduwali Muse, was held on the USS Boxer [33] and was eventually flown
to the U.S. for trial. In a federal courtroom in New York City, prosecutors brought charges that
included piracy, conspiracy to seize a ship by force, and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking.[34]
Muse's lawyers asked that he be tried as a juvenile, alleging he was either 15 or 16 years old at
the time of the hostage taking, but the court ruled Muse was not a juvenile and would be trial as
an adult. He later admitted he was 18 years old.[34][35] and pleaded guilty to piracy charges and
was handed a prison sentence of 33 years and nine months.[36][37]

Lawsuit[edit]
On 27 April 2009, 'Maersk Alabama' crew member Richard E. Hicks filed a lawsuit against his
employer, Waterman Steamship Corporation and Maersk Line, Ltd., for knowingly sending him
into pirate-infested waters near Somalia. Houston attorney Brian Beckcom, who is representing
Richard Hicks and eight other members of the crew, said that Captain Phillips knowingly and
willingly put the crew in danger by ignoring reports of recent pirate attacks and disregarding
warnings to remain at least 600 miles from the coast of Somalia.[38] In August 2011, the Court
of Appeals of Texas dismissed Waterman from the litigation.[39]

UDT-SEAL museum[edit]

The Maersk Alabama lifeboat on which Captain Phillips was held hostage by Somali pirates in
2009 is on display at the National Navy SEAL Museum

The owners of U.S. 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.[40][41] The lifeboat had recently been on loan to National
Geographic for its "Real Pirates" exhibition at the Nauticus marine science museum in Norfolk,
Virginia.[42] The producers of the Captain Phillips film visited the Museum in the process of re-
creating the lifeboat and interiors for the set.[43] An example of the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle
used to monitor the crisis is also on display,[44] 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.