| Maersk Alabama hijacking | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofOperation Ocean Shield[1] | |||||||
 Aerial surveillance ofMaersk Alabama on 9 April | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| MV Maersk Alabama Supported by:  United States Navy | Somali pirates | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Richard Phillips | Abduwali Muse | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 23 crew | 4 hijackers | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 3 killed; 1 captured | ||||||
On 8 April 2009, fourpirates in the Somali Basin seized the Danish/U.S. cargo shipMaersk Alabama at a distance of 240nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi) southeast ofEyl, Somalia. The siege ended after a rescue effort by theUnited States Navy on April 12.[2] At the time of the hijacking,Maersk Alabama was owned by the Danish shipping companyMaersk Line. The ship has since been acquired by Element Shipmanagement SA and has been renamedMV Tygra. As of 2025[update], the ship is still in active service.
The incident was the first successful pirate seizure of a ship registered under the U.S. flag since the early 19th century. Many news reports cited the last pirate seizure as being during theSecond Barbary War in 1815, althoughother incidents are believed to have occurred until at least 1822. It was the sixth vessel in a week to be attacked by pirates, who had previously extortedransoms of tens of millions of dollars.[citation needed] The story of the incident was reported by CaptainRichard Phillips, who had been master of the vessel at the time of the incident, in the 2010 bookA Captain's Duty, which he co-wrote withStephan Talty. The book was later adapted as the U.S. 2013 filmCaptain Phillips, starringTom Hanks.
With a crew of 23 and 17,000 metric tons (19,000 short tons) of cargo, the ship, originating fromSalalah, Oman, was bound forMombasa, Kenya, after a stop inDjibouti.[3][4] TheMaersk Alabama was carrying 401 containers of food aid fromUSAID, Serving God Ministries, theWorld Food Program, and Catholic Relief Services.[5] The food aid was destined for people in Somalia and Uganda, Somali refugees in Kenya, and refugees in Rwanda.[6][7]
The crew members ofMaersk Alabama had receivedanti-piracy training from union training schools and had drilled aboard the ship a day prior to the attack of 8 April. Their training included the use of small arms, anti-terror, basic safety, first aid, and other security-related courses.[3][4]
On 8 April 2009, four pirates based onFV Win Far 161 attacked the ship.[8] Armed withAK-47assault rifles, all four of the pirates were between 15 and 18 years old, according to Secretary of DefenseRobert Gates.[9] When the pirate alarm sounded, Chief Engineer Mike Perry brought 14 members of the crew into a secure room that the engineers had been fortifying for such a purpose. As the pirates approached, the remaining crew fired flares. In addition, Perry and First Assistant Engineer Matt Fisher swung the ship'srudder, which swamped the pirateskiff.[10]
Nonetheless, the ship was boarded. Perry had initially taken main engine control away from the bridge and Fisher had taken control of the steering gear. Perry then shut down all ship systems and the entire vessel "went black". The pirates captured CaptainRichard Phillips and several other crew members minutes after boarding, but found that they could not control the ship.
Perry, armed with a knife, remained outside the secure room lying in wait for 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 their ringleader,Abduwali Muse, and took him prisoner after a cat-and-mouse chase in a darkened engine room. Muse, whose hand was cut during the altercation, was then tied up and his wounds treated by Second Mate Ken Quinn.[11]
Later, after suffering in the overheated secure room for hours, the crew attempted to exchange Muse for Phillips, but the exchange went awry and the pirates did not release Phillips after Muse was released.[12] When Phillips escorted the pirates to a lifeboat to show them how to operate it, the pirates fled in the lifeboat with Phillips as a hostage and $30,000 in cash taken from the safe of theMaersk Alabama.[13]
On 8 April, theUnited States Navy guided-missile destroyerUSS Bainbridge and the guided-missile frigateUSS Halyburton were dispatched to theGulf of Aden in response to the hostage situation,Halyburton carrying twoSH-60B Seahawk helicopters on board. The ships reachedMaersk Alabama early on 9 April.[14][15]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.[16]CNN andFox 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 ashuman shields.[17][18]
A stand-off began on 9 April betweenBainbridge,Halyburton, and the pirates on the lifeboat fromMaersk Alabama with Phillips held hostage. The lifeboat was covered and contained plenty of food and water but lacked basic comforts, including a toilet or ventilation.[19]Bainbridge was equipped with aScanEagleunmanned aerial vehicle andrigid-hulled inflatable boats. Both vessels stayed several hundred yards away, out of the pirates' range of fire. AP-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.[17]
On 10 April, Phillips attempted to escape from the lifeboat, but was recaptured after the captors fired shots. (Phillips later stated this was not an escape attempt.[20]) 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 Phillips. The U.S. Navy dispatched another amphibious assault ship,USS Boxer, to the site off theHorn 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 CommanderFrank Castellano of theBainbridge andFBI hostage negotiators. The captors were also communicating with other pirate vessels by satellite phone.[21]
However, negotiations broke down hours after the pirates fired onHalyburton 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 ofHalyburton were injured from the gunfire, as the shots were fired haphazardly by a pirate from the front hatch of the lifeboat.[22] "We are safe and we are not afraid of the Americans. We will defend ourselves if attacked", one of the pirates told Reuters bysatellite phone. Phillips' family had gathered at his farmhouse inVermont awaiting a resolution to the situation.[23] Later that day,Maersk Alabama arrived in the port ofMombasa under U.S. military escort.[14] The FBI then secured the ship as a crime scene.[24] 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 destroyer.[25]
On Sunday, 12 April,US Navy SEAL Team Six snipers ofRed Squadron fired shots fromBainbridge'sfantail, killing the three remaining pirates after Muse had boarded theBainbridge to negotiate a deal. Captain Phillips was rescued uninjured.[26][27][28][29] 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 arifle at Phillips' back.[29][30][31]
The $30,000 in cash from theMaersk Alabama that the pirates had stowed in the lifeboat was not found. TheNCIS and the FBI investigated two members of the SEAL team's Red Squadron, but no charges were brought and the money was not recovered.[32]
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.[33]The film based onPhillips' book names the three Walid Elmi, Nour Najee, and Adan Bilal.Their bodies were later turned over by the U.S. Navy to unidentified recipients in Somalia.[34]
Two former Navy SEALs have claimed participation in the rescue:Matt Bissonnette (using thenom de plume Mark Owen) andRobert J. O'Neill. Both also participated inOperation Neptune Spear that killedOsama bin Laden.[citation needed]
Muse, the surviving pirate, was held inUSS Boxer'safloat brig and was eventually flown to the United States to stand trial.[35] Prosecutors brought charges in a federal courtroom inNew York City that included piracy,conspiracy to seize a ship by force, and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking.[33]
Muse's lawyers asked that he be tried as a juvenile, alleging that he was either 15 or 16 years old at the time of the hostage-taking, but the court ruled that Muse was not a juvenile and would be tried as an adult. He later admitted that he was 18 years old,[33][36] andpleaded guilty to hijacking, kidnapping, and hostage-taking charges in lieu of piracy charges. He received a prison sentence of 33 years and 9 months.[37][38]
In 2009, 11 of the 20 former crew members of theMaersk Alabama sued the ship's owner, Maersk Line Limited, and operator,Waterman Steamship Corporation, for allegedly knowingly and intentionally sending the ship into pirate-infested waters near Somalia. Despite warnings to stay at least 600 miles away from the coast due to pirate activity, Phillips had moved the ship within 250 miles of the coast, which the crew members said put their lives in jeopardy and that the companies did not provide adequate security for their employees.[39][40] The lawsuit was later settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money.[41]
Just weeks after his rescue from the Somali pirates, the Americantalent agencyCreative Artists Agency (CAA) signed Phillips and auctioned off hislife rights to thepublishing andfilm industries in the spring of 2009.[42]
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AmericanpublisherHyperion Books optioned the rights for Phillips' memoir in May 2009.[42] On April 6, 2010,A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea, was released.[43][44][45]
Columbia Pictures acquired thefilm rights in May 2009 also.[46] In March 2011, it was announcedTom Hanks would star as Phillips,Barkhad Abdi asAbduwali Muse, andFaysal Ahmed as Nour Najee in a film based on the hijacking and Phillips' book.[47] It was scripted byBilly Ray, and produced by the team behindThe Social Network.[46]
The film, titledCaptain Phillips, was released on October 11, 2013[48][49] and had its premiere showing at the 2013New York Film Festival.[50] It was praised for its direction, screenplay, production values, cinematography, and for the performances of Hanks and Abdi,[51][52][53] with Abdi winning aBafta award for Best Supporting Actor.[54]Captain Phillips grossed $107.1 million in North America and $111.7 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $218.8 million, against its budget of $55 million.[55]
The owners ofMaersk Alabama donated the bullet-marked 5-ton fiberglass lifeboat upon which the pirates held Captain Phillips hostage to theNational Navy UDT-SEAL Museum inFort Pierce, Florida, in August 2009;[56][57] prior to that the lifeboat had been on loan toNational Geographic for its "Real Pirates" exhibition at theNauticus marine science museum inNorfolk, Virginia.[58]
The producers of theCaptain Phillips film visited the Museum while re-creating the lifeboat and interiors for the set.[59] An example of theBoeing Insitu ScanEagle used to monitor the crisis is also on display.[60] The actual ScanEagle used in the mission is on display along with shell casings at theMuseum of Flight inSeattle.
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