Update: R.I. man was captain of U.S. ship during attack
10:58 AM Wed, Nov 18, 2009 | Permalink
Email
 |
 |
Projo 7 to 7 News BlogTaking the news pulse of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, by Providence Journal and projo.com staff, from 7 to 7, every business day |
|
Get the 7 to 7 on your mobile at www.projo.com. Twitter: projo | RSS | Email alerts
« Update: Two R.I. women die from swine flu |
Main
| 2,000 to compete in Irish dance event in Providence »
By Kate Bramson A Barrington man was serving as captain of the Maersk Alabama early Wednesday when Somali pirates attacked the ship for the second time in seven months. This time, though, with lessons learned from the April attack on the ship, guards aboard the U.S.-flagged cargo ship repelled the takeover attempt, according to the president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Mass.  Maersk Alabama Capt. Paul M. Rochford, a longtime Barrington resident, graduated the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay in 1979. Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Pirates also 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 daring nighttime attack. During that attack, Chief Officer Shane Murphy of Seekonk, also a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, was aboard the ship. He later recounted the experience in an interview with The Providence Journal. Neither Phillips nor Murphy was aboard the Maersk Alabama during this recent attack, Gurnon said. He does not know if other crew members from the April incident were aboard this time. Coincidentally, though, both captains -- Rochford and Phillips -- were classmates at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Gurnon said. Early Wednesday, Somali pirates attacked the ship with automatic weapons, this time about 350 nautical miles east of the Somali coast, but guards on board the craft fired back and thwarted the attempted hijacking with a high-decibel noise device. "The outcome this time was very different because of the lessons learned from the original attack," Gurnon said. This time, just like in April, the Maersk Alabama was transporting food into Mombasa, Kenya, as part of the U.S. relief effort into Africa, Gurnon said. It has probably made the same roundtrip -- a routine route for this kind of ship -- 10 times, so it would have passed back and forth through the same region 20 times since April, Gurnon said. The Maersk Alabama is owned by the Danish company Maersk Lines, but it carries an American flag and American crew because the U.S. Congress has determined that any ship carrying U.S. food relief to Africa must be American flagged with American crews, Gurnon said. The cargo ship loads up off the coast of the state of Virginia before departing for its Kenyan destination, he said. It was perhaps 1,000 miles from its African destination when the pirates attacked on Wednesday, Gurnon said. Such attacks have been going on for years, but the American people didn't really take note until the attack on the Maersk Alabama in April, he said. Murphy's father confirmed that his son was not aboard the ship during this attack, but his son does know some of the crew members, said Capt. Joseph S. Murphy II, who teaches an anti-piracy course at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. "A positive thing out of this is Maersk learned from the errors of the past," Murphy said, echoing Gurnon's views on the recent attack. "They hardened the ship and modified procedures. They were obviously successful." Capt. Murphy said pirate activity has again picked up in the region with the passing of the monsoon season. The calm weather enables pirates in small boats to travel "a considerable distance out to sea" to take on the big ships. "It's pirate season," Murphy said. "Unfortunately, 80 percent of the ships that traffic in those areas are still unprotected," he said. Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force, called it "pure chance" that the Maersk Alabama had been targeted a second time. "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," Harbour said. "At least this time they had a vessel protection detachment on board who were able to repel the attack." An EU patrol aircraft from the Horn of Africa nation Djibouti was called in to investigate, and the closest EU Naval Force vessel was tasked with searching for the pirate attack group, the EU Naval Force said in a statement. Gurnon provided some insight as to how the Maersk crew repelled this second attack. In addition to using the high-decibel noise device, the security crew surely fired at the pirates, he said. "I doubt they were firing to hit them," Gurnon said. "In the maritime trade, they say: Fire a shot across the bow -- and that's meant to scare people off. You don't intend to hit them." Another tactical approach was the use of the Long Range Acoustic Device, which can beam earsplitting alarm tones, according to a statement from the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. Gurnon said firing across the bow would be enough for an innocent fisherman who had gotten too close to a cargo ship to turn away and not continue toward the crew firing at a nearby boat. The firing likely produced the same reaction from the pirates. "So I suspect that's exactly what happened," he said. "The pirates said, "Oooh-whee, this is not an easy target. Let's move along. We'll get the next ship." Phillips' ordeal last spring galvanized the attention of the U.S. public to the dangers of operating merchant ships in the Horn of Africa, one of the busiest and most precarious sea lanes in the world. As Murphy's father noted, pirates have greatly increased their attacks in recent weeks after seasonal rains subsided. On Monday, a self-proclaimed pirate said that Somali hijackers had been paid $3.3 million for the release of 36 crew members from a Spanish vessel held for more than six weeks -- a clear demonstration of how lucrative the trade can be for impoverished Somalis. Phillips told The Associated Press last month from his farmhouse in Vermont that he was contemplating retiring from sea life after his ordeal. He's been given a book deal and a movie 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 he says he never volunteered, as crew members and his family reported at the time.
The original version of this report was published at 7:05 a.m. and updated at 9:24 a.m. 
CommentsLeave a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
Tags 
New comments
New photos
New posts
Projo blogs
Archives
I don't understand why we aren't killing these pirates? Pretty easy, end of problem. Kill them all.
Report Abuse
Good question, yankees12, no using Hav-A-Hart traps with pirates. Use the old reliable method of killing them on the spot. I think the media would be hard pressed to find someone who would even bat an eyelash.
Report Abuse
If you read the article, you will notice some ships are starting to have small garrison's on board to help protect the sailors, the ship and it's cargo. They are even allowed to fire back at ships that fire on them.
I say, arm these garrisons with rocket launchers. They fire a gun at you, you fire a rocket launcher at them. Sooner or later, they will be out of boats.
Report Abuse
I agree that killing the pirates would probably end the problem but the pirates know that won't happen unless they take another one of our citizens hostage or fire on a military vessel. Most of these attacks are intentionally happening within Somali waters, not international waters. It would be a violation of international law to open fire on them in Somali waters, unless it's in self-defense. The US had to ask Somalia for the ability even to chase and capture the pirates and return them to land.
Report Abuse
Touche! I, too, think they should sink a pirate ship or 2. That will certainly make them think twice about attacking a merchant ship.
Too bad that 80% of the ships aren't armed to repel an attack. in fact, they probably shouldn't have made that announcement! The Somalis now know that 8 out of 10 tries will be successful.
Report Abuse
The pirates would surely torture and kill, so I don't understand the reluctance to do the same to them when they continue to attack ships in this manner. That seems to me to be the only thing that would impact them.
Report Abuse
"What do you do with a scurvy pirate ? Load the cannon up and fire it. What do ya do with a scurvy pirate? ...make them walk the plank!"... even the Backyardigans know What to do with em ! LOL
Report Abuse
All is fair on the high seas. Pirates shoot and attempt a takeover of a US ship. We scare them away? Has it become politically incorrect to kill pirates who would not hesitate to kill an American? I just don't understand why we are afraid of taking lethal action against a group of criminals. World opinion would support our actions of self defense. Killing pirates would decrease their numbers and discourage further violent behavior.
Report Abuse
I hope that all of our ships, and ships of other nations, fully arm their ships with the kind of weaponry that will allow them to blow these bastards out of the water and kill every last one of them...rather then just shooting at them with pea-shooters to scare them away...yet allow them to live and attempt to hijack another ship - another day!
Also, let us never forget where "Blackhawk Down" took place and the horrible desecration that took place with the bodies of our soldiers!
IT IS PAYBACK TIME...AND THEN SOME!
Report Abuse
Blow them out of the water. If they know you are not going to put up with their BS they will stop. I'm all for US relief to other countries but right now we need it in the USA. God bless the crew and I'm happy to read they are safe.
Report Abuse
Quad fifties, maybe 4 05 of them all strategically located. A couple of bursts and whatever pirate isn't floating face down can swim to shore. Smokem if ya got em.
Report Abuse