SILVER SPRING, MD., AND BOURNE, MASS. — Capt. Richard Phillips knew the waters off the rugged Horn of Africa were dangerous. The veteran mariner said as much in an e-mail to his wife, Andrea, from the cargo ship Maersk Alabama.
"He knew the pirates were active again," said his sister-in-law, Lea Coggio.
Shane Murphy, the second in command on the huge U.S-flagged ship, also knew the perils of sailing off Somalia. He brushed off his mother's questions about pirates when home in Massachusetts, but he posted his fears online.
"These waters are infested with pirates that highjack ships daily," Murphy wrote on his Facebook page recently as he sailed between Oman and Kenya. "I feel like it's only a matter of time before my number gets called."
That time came soon after dawn Wednesday. At least four heavily armed men climbed from two speedboats onto the Maersk Alabama and took Phillips captive in a lifeboat from his ship, according to U.S. officials.
Phillips had flown from his home in rural Vermont to the United Arab Emirates about two weeks ago to take command of the 508-foot-long container ship. Once it was loaded with humanitarian aid supplies and other cargo, he charted a course to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
Phillips and Murphy are both graduates of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where Murphy's father teaches a course in anti-piracy tactics. The academy has been training cadets for two years in these tactics in anticipation of the time -- almost inevitable, academy leaders said -- when a U.S. vessel would be boarded by pirates. Officials there said the incident illustrates the importance of such work.
"Today the issue of how to protect that oceangoing commerce went from the academic course we teach here to reality TV for America," said Adm. Rick Gurnon, a former Navy pilot who serves as the academy's president.
Among the mysteries of Wednesday's assault was how the crew managed to regain control of the vessel. There's only so much an unarmed commercial ship can do. Measures include forming convoys under naval escort, steaming at high speed, and stationing crew members on deck to make it appear that the vessel is ready to repel boarders.
At the academy in Bourne, crews are also taught to disable the ship to thwart pirates. Gurnon noted that, since last fall, pirates have seized 10 major flagships from around the world and that 200 seamen are being held hostage in Somalia. Gurnon said it was his understanding that the crew disabled the Maersk Alabama.
