In Rescue of Captain, Navy Kills 3 Pirates
Roberto Schmidt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Crew members of the Maersk Alabama celebrated after hearing that their captain, who had been held hostage by Somali pirates, had been rescued.
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LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMy SpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkBy ROBERT D. MCFADDEN and SCOTT SHANE
Published: April 12, 2009
Navy Seals rescued an American ship captain unharmed and killed three Somali pirates in a daring operation in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, ending a five-day hostage standoff between United States naval forces and a small band of brigands in a covered orange lifeboat off the Horn of Africa.
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Times Topics: Piracy at Sea
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U.S. Navy, via Reuters
Richard Phillips, right, the captain of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship Maersk Alabama, after his rescue on Sunday with Cmdr. Frank Castellano, the commanding officer of the Navy destroyer Bainbridge.
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Toby Talbot/Associated Press
Andrea Phillips holds a photo of her husband, Richard Phillips, captain of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship Maersk Alabama.
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Acting with President Obama’s authorization and in the belief that the hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips, was in imminent danger of being killed by captors armed with pistols and AK-47s, snipers on the fantail of the destroyer Bainbridge, which was towing the lifeboat on a 100-foot line, opened fire and picked off the three captors.
Two of the captors had poked their heads out of a rear hatch of the lifeboat, exposing themselves to clear shots, and the third could be seen through a window in the bow, pointing an automatic rifle at the captain, who was tied up inside the 18-foot lifeboat, senior Navy officials said.
It took only three remarkable shots — one each by snipers firing from a distance at dusk, using night-vision scopes, the officials said. Within minutes, Seals in a small craft rowed up to the lifeboat, climbed aboard, found the three pirates dead and untied Captain Phillips, ending the contretemps at sea that had riveted much of the world’s attention. A fourth pirate had surrendered earlier.
Shortly after his rescue, Captain Phillips was taken aboard the Bainbridge, underwent a medical exam and was found to be in relatively good condition for a 53-year-old seafarer who had been held since Wednesday by pirates who had demanded $2 million for his life. He called home and was flown to the Boxer, an amphibious assault ship also off the Somali coast. Arrangements were being made Sunday night for his return home to Vermont.
“I share the country’s admiration for the bravery of Captain Phillips and his selfless concern for his crew,” Mr. Obama said in a White House statement. “His courage is a model for all Americans.”
Jubilation over the dramatic rescue reached from the White House to Underhill, Vt., Captain Phillips’s hometown, and from personnel aboard the Bainbridge to the cheering, fist-pumping 19-member crew of the captain’s cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama, docked in Mombasa, Kenya.
Captain Phillips, who was said to be resting comfortably, spoke briefly to officials of the Maersk Line, who quoted him as saying: “The real heroes are the Navy, the Seals, those who have brought me home.” He also spoke to his wife, Andrea, and two college-aged children in Underhill, where dozens of yellow ribbons fluttered on the white picket fence of his home and two small American flags jutted up from the lawn.
“This is truly a very happy Easter for the Phillips family,” said Alison McColl, a Maersk representative who had been assigned to speak for the family. “They are all just so happy and relieved. All of your prayers and good wishes have paid off. Andrea and Richard have spoken. I think you can all imagine their joy and what a happy moment it was for them.”
On the family’s behalf, Ms. McColl thanked the nation and the people of Vermont for their support. “Everyone in that house has felt the positive energy, prayers and thoughts,” she said. “Obviously, this has been a long journey for the family.”
John Reinhart, president and chief executive of Maersk Line Ltd. praised the Navy and federal officials for their performance. “Everyone’s worked around the clock,” he said. “It’s magnificent to see the outcome.”
While the outcome was a triumph for America, officials in many countries that have been plagued by pirates said it was not likely to discourage the seagoing criminals. Pirates are holding a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members, according to the Malaysia-based International Maritime Bureau.
Aboard the Maersk Alabama, a 17,000-ton cargo ship, Captain Phillips’s crew erupted in cheers, waved American flags and fired off flares in celebration. When four pirates attacked the ship on Wednesday, the crew escaped harm after the captain offered himself as a hostage. He told his crewmen to lock themselves in cabins, and allowed himself to be taken at gunpoint into the covered lifeboat in which the pirates fled.
Over the ensuing days, according to official accounts of the episode, the pirates made repeated threats to kill the captain as their motorized lifeboat moved about 30 miles off the Somali coast. It was closely watched by United States warships and helicopters in an increasingly tense standoff.
Talks to free the captain began Thursday, with the commander of the Bainbridge communicating with the pirates under instructions from F.B.I. hostage negotiators who had been flown to the scene. The pirates threatened to kill Captain Phillips if they were attacked, and the result was tragicomic: the world’s most powerful navy against a small lifeboat.
Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of the United States Naval forces in the region, said in a briefing in Bahrain that despite ransom demands from the pirates the United States had not discussed any ransom and had talked to the pirates only about the release of Captain Phillips and the pirates’ surrender.
The Defense Department twice asked Mr. Obama for permission to use military force to rescue Captain Phillips, most recently late on Friday night, senior defense officials said. On Saturday morning, the president agreed to permit action, they said, but only if it appeared that the captain’s life was in imminent danger.
By Friday, with several warships within easy reach of the lifeboat, the negotiations had gone nowhere. Captain Phillips jumped into the sea, but was quickly recaptured. On Saturday, the pirates fired several shots at a small boat that had approached from the Bainbridge.
By the weekend, however, the pirates had begun to run out of food, water and fuel. That apparently provided the opening officials were hoping for. In briefings, senior officers who spoke anonymously because they had not been authorized to disclose information said that the pirates agreed Sunday to accept supplies of food and water. A small craft was used to deliver them and it apparently made several trips between the Bainbridge and the lifeboat.
On one trip, one of the four pirates — a man whose hand had been gashed during the capture of Captain Phillips — asked for medical treatment and, in effect surrendering, was taken in the small boat to the Bainbridge. Justice Department officials were studying options for his case, including criminal charges in the United States or turning him over to Kenya, where dozens of pirates have faced prosecution. Three pirates were left on board with Captain Phillips.
Meanwhile, Navy Seals were flown in by fixed-wing aircraft. They parachuted into the sea with inflatable boats and were picked up by the Bainbridge. On Sunday, the pirates, their fuel exhausted, were drifting toward the Somali coast. They agreed to accept a tow from the Bainbridge, the senior officials said. At first, the towline was 200 feet long, but as darkness gathered late on Sunday and seas became rough, the tow line was shortened to 100 feet, the officials said. It was unclear if this was done with the pirates’ knowledge.
At dusk, a single tracer bullet was seen fired from the lifeboat. The intent was unclear, but it ratcheted up the tension and Seal snipers at the stern rail of the Bainbridge fixed night-vision scopes to their high-powered rifles, getting ready for action.
What they saw was the head and shoulders of two of the pirates emerging from the rear hatch of the lifeboat. In addition, through the window of the front hatch, they saw the third pirate, pointing his AK-47 at the back of Captain Phillips, who was seen to be tied up.
That was it: the provocation that fulfilled the president’s order to act only if the captain’s life was in imminent danger, and the opportunity of having clear shots at each of the captors. The order was given. Senior defense officials, themselves marveling at the skill of the snipers, said each took a target and fired one shot.
Even as the gunfire cracked across the water, Special Forces personnel were sliding down ropes from the Bainbridge. Within minutes, they were boarding the lifeboat to confirm the kills and free the captain from his bonds.
“This was an incredible team effort,” Admiral Gortney said when it was over. “And I am extremely proud of the tireless efforts of all the men and women who made this rescue possible.”
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