Battle At Sea
UPDATE: Captain gave himself up to the pirates to save the crew. Crewman’s wife to Herald.
USS Bainbridge on scene, FBI called in to negotiate with Somali pirates holding the captain in a lifeboat. That and more from the Boston Herald:
The wife of a Massachusetts-bred seaman being held captive by violent Somali pirates said this morning that she’s waiting for a “happy ending” as a U.S. Navy warship and FBI hostage negotiators at the scene set the stage for a high seas standoff.
The ship’s captain, Richard Phillips, 53, of Vermont is being held hostage by Somali pirates, although a spokesman for the cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama, as well as his wife, said this morning there’s no indication he’s been harmed. Meanwhile, The Associated Press is reporting that the U.S. Navy called in FBI hostage negotiators to help free the captain and Somalia’s foreign minister says the pirates are “playing with fire” and won’t win against US in a ship standoff.
Andrea Phillips has been in constant contact with officials working to free her husband, a dad of two, but she has yet to talk to him, she told the Herald this morning.
“I know my husband is safe and they are doing everything they can to assure his safety and get him back aboard the ship,” Andrea Phillips said in a brief phone interview from her home in the country village of Underhill, Vt. “I’m waiting to talk to my husband.”
More from the Herald:
Captain devoted to family, the sea
On the night she first crossed paths with seaman-hostage Richard P. Phillips in a bar outside Fenway Park, Andrea Coggio excitedly called her mother to report, “I think I met the man I’m going to marry.”
Capt. Phillips, a Red Sox and Patriots fan, was once a Boston cabbie, speaking of hazardous duty.
Sailor expected trouble at sea. 1st officer Shane Murphys’ wife Serena, “This isn’t a surprise.”
Topics: courage, law & order
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:30 am Comments (1) on Thursday, April 9, 2009
One Response to “Battle At Sea”
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April 9th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I hope Capt. Phillips makes it safely back to his ship and his family.
Could this be Somalia’s Tripoli moment?