Ship's captain bids to flee pirates

Apr 10 2009

The American ship's captain taken hostage by Somali pirates managed to jump off their lifeboat overnight but was recaptured, it has been reported.

The escape attempt by Capt Richard Phillips was witnessed by a US navy ship nearby but happened too fast for it to come to his aid, according to NBC News.

He was captured after a struggle on his ship, Maersk Alabama, when the four pirates who had seized the ship were fought off by the crew.

More US warships - as well as pirate reinforcements - are heading to the scene, more than 300 miles off Somalia's Indian Ocean coast.

In a dramatic escalation of the Indian Ocean stand-off, the pirates apparently fear being shot or arrested if they hand over Capt Phillips. They hope to link up with their colleagues who are using Russian, German, Filipino and other hostages as human shields.

US Central Command chief General David Petraeus said US warships are also heading to the area,

"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 Capt 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 were 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.