Somali pirates and US warships rush to hostage stand-off

MORE US warships – as well as pirate reinforcements with an international gallery of hostages – today rushed to where four Somali bandits are holding a US sea captain hostage.
In a dramatic escalation of the Indian Ocean stand-off, the pirates apparently fear being shot or arrested if they hand over Captain Richard Phillips and hope to link up with their colleagues who are using Russian, German, Filipino and other hostages captured in recent days as human shields.

US Central Command chief General David Petraeus said US warships are also headed to the area, more than 300 miles off Somalia's Indian Ocean coast.

"We want to ensure that we have all the capability that might be needed over the course of the coming days," he said.

Pirates have been holding Phillips hostage aboard the lifeboat since his crew thwarted the attack on Wednesday on the 17,000-ton US-flagged Maersk Alabama.

Mohamed Samaw, a Somali resident of the pirate stronghold in central Eyl town, who claims to have a "share" in a British-owned ship hijacked on Monday, said four foreign ships previously captured by pirates are heading toward the lifeboat.

A total of 54 hostages are on two of the ships, citizens of China, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Tuvalu, Indonesia and Taiwan.

"The pirates have summoned assistance – skiffs and motherships are heading towards the area from the coast," said a Nairobi-based diplomat. "We knew they were gathering yesterday."

Samaw said two ships left Eyl on Wednesday afternoon. A third sailed from Haradhere, another pirate base in central Somalia, and the fourth one was a Taiwanese fishing vessel seized on Monday that was already only 30 miles from the lifeboat.

He said the ships include the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger, seized earlier this month. The ship's crew of 24 is made up of five Germans, three Russians, two Ukrainians, two Filipinos and 12 Tuvalus.

Another man identified as a pirate also said the captured German ship had been sent to the rescue.

"They had asked us for reinforcement and we have already sent a good number of well-equipped colleagues, who were holding a German cargo ship," said the pirate who asked that only his first name, Badow, be used to protect him from reprisals.

"We are not intending to harm the captain, so that we hope our colleagues would not be harmed as long as they hold him," Badow said.

"All we need, first, is a safe route to escape with the captain, and then (negotiate) ransom later," he added.

Phillips thwarted Wednesday's takeover of the Maersk Alabama by telling his crew of about 20 to lock themselves in a room, the crew told relatives.

The crew later overpowered some of the pirates but Phillips, 53, surrendered himself to safeguard his men, and four of the Somalis fled with him to an enclosed lifeboat, the relatives said.

The freighter headed away from the lifeboat on Thursday, Maersk shipping line said, and a teams of armed Navy Seals is on board, according to a US official.

The Alabama was sailing toward the Kenyan port of Mombasa – its original destination – and was expected to arrive on Saturday night. It is the sixth vessel in a week to be hit by pirates who have extorted tens of millions of pounds in ransoms.

US military officials later said Phillips tried to escape but was recaptured by pirates.

US defence officials said Phillips jumped over the side of the small lifeboat where he has been held for two days and began swimming.

Officials said Phillips was recaptured by the pirates after he jumped from the boat around midnight local time into the open ocean off the Somali coast.

A US Navy ship patrolling nearby was able to see Phillips moving around and talking after his return to the pirate's boat. The defence officials think he was unharmed.

A Somali in contact with a pirate leader said the captors of the US sea captain want a ransom and are ready to kill him if attacked.

The Somali, who helped negotiate a ransom paid last year to pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks said he had spoken with a pirate leader on the ground in Somalia who is co-ordinating action on the lifeboat adrift in the Indian Ocean.

He said the plan was to get the hostage to shore to negotiate from a better position.