Author Topic: Somali pirates repelled in second attack on Maersk Alabama  (Read 2983 times)

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Offline Thor

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Somali pirates repelled in second attack on Maersk Alabama
« on: November 18, 2009, 10:15:09 AM »
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Somali pirates beaten off in second attack on Maersk Alabama

Private guards return fire to help US container ship evade hijack, while pirate says captain of a seized vessel is dead


The Maersk Alabama, which Somali pirates attacked for the second time in seven months

The Maersk Alabama, which Somali pirates have attacked for the second time in seven months, arriving in Mombasa, Kenya, after the earlier encounter. Photograph: Sayyid Azim/AP

Somali pirates attacked the container ship Maersk Alabama today for the second time in seven months. Private guards on board the US-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.

A US surveillance plane was monitoring the ship as it continued to its destination, Mombasa in Kenya, while a pirate said the captain of a chemical tanker, the Theresa, hijacked on Monday with 28 North Korean crew had died of his wounds.

Pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama last April and took ship captain Richard Phillips hostage, holding him at gunpoint in a lifeboat for five days. Navy Seal sharpshooters freed Phillips while killing three pirates in a night-time attack.

Four pirates in a skiff attacked the ship again today at about 6.30am local time, opening fire with automatic weapons from about 300 yards away, a statement from the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said. A security team repelled the attack by using evasive manoeuvres, small-arms fire and a Long Range Acoustic Device, which can beam earsplitting alarm tones.

Vice Admiral Bill Gortney of the US naval forces central command said the Maersk Alabama had followed the maritime industry's best practices in having a security team on board. "This is a great example of how merchant mariners can take proactive action to prevent being attacked and why we recommend that ships follow industry best practices if they're in high-risk areas," he said in a statement.

Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at the Chatham House thinktank in London, said the international maritime community was solidly against armed guards, but that American ships have taken a different line.

"Shipping companies are still pretty much overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of armed guards," he said. "Lots of private security companies employ people who don't have maritime experience. Also, there's the idea that it's the responsibility of states and navies to provide security. I would think it's a step backward if we start privatising security of the shipping trade."

A pirate who gave his name as Abdi Nor told the Associated Press from the Somali town of Haradhere that colleagues at sea had called at about 9am – two hours after the attack. "They told us that they got in trouble with an American ship, then we lost them. We have been trying to locate them since."

A US Navy P-3 surveillance aircraft "is monitoring Maersk Alabama and has good voice communication with the vessel," said Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain. "Everything is safe and secure and Maersk Alabama is proceeding to their intended destination," he said.

Maritime experts said it was not unprecedented that the Maersk Alabama had been targeted in a second attack. "It's not the first vessel to have been attacked twice, and it's a chance that every single ship takes as it passes through the area," Commander John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU naval force. "At least this time they had a vessel protection detachment on board who were able to repel the attack."

Phillips' ordeal last spring brought home to the US public the dangers faced by merchant ships in the Horn of Africa, one of the busiest sea lanes in the world.

Underscoring the danger, a pirate, Sa'id, who gave only one name for fear of reprisals, said today that the captain of the Theresa had died of wounds suffered during the hijacking on Monday of the Virgin Islands-owned chemical tanker. He said the captain died last night from internal bleeding.

Pirates have increased their attacks in recent weeks after seasonal rains subsided. Yesterday a pirate said Somali hijackers had been paid $3.3m (£1.9m) for the release of 36 crew from a Spanish vessel held for more than six weeks – a demonstration of how lucrative the trade can be for impoverished Somalis.

Phillips told AP last month from his farmhouse in Vermont that he was contemplating retiring from sea life. He has been given a book deal and a film could be in the works.

Phillips was hailed as a hero for helping his crew thwart April's hijacking before he was taken hostage, but says he never volunteered, as crew members and his family reported at the time. He says he was already a hostage when he struck a deal with the pirates – trading him for their leader, who was taken by the Maersk Alabama's crew.

This is positive news. Unfortunately, not ALL ships can afford a private security firm in order to repel potential boarders.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2009, 12:27:56 PM by Thor »
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Offline TheSarge

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Re: Somali pirates repelled in second attack on Maersk Alabama
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2009, 11:19:51 AM »
What I thought was fall down funny in the story I read on the FNC website this morning...was the EU Anti-Piracy task force spokeman saying that it was just coincidence that they went after the Alabama again.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2009, 12:28:20 PM by Thor »
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Offline NHSparky

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Re: Somali pirates repelled in second attack on Maersk Alabama
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2009, 11:22:15 AM »
Gotta do something about that headline, man.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2009, 12:28:43 PM by Thor »
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Offline thundley4

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Re: Somali pirates repelled in second attack on Maersk Alabama
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2009, 12:21:14 PM »
How did they manage to have an armed security force on board? I thought most ports disallowed that.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2009, 12:29:07 PM by Thor »

Offline Thor

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Re: Somali pirates repelled in second attack on Maersk Alabama
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2009, 12:27:11 PM »
Gotta do something about that headline, man.

I DIDN'T write it !!!  :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

But I fiX0red it !!  :-)
« Last Edit: November 18, 2009, 12:29:42 PM by Thor »
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation."- IBID

I AM your General Ne'er Do Well, Troublemaker & All Around Meanie!!

"Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated."-Thomas Jefferson