Breaking News: Somali pirates-0, Captain-1

I just got an email from a good friend and often contributor of good content, regarding the freeing of the ship Captain from the Somali pirates.

The message that he sent would have just been funny - about 50 years ago - since it involved generous use of the ‘N’ word. Needless, perhaps, to say, I asked him if he’d like me to forward that to Natacha - unedited.

I suggested some other descriptions - with words I won’t use on the Main Journal page here - that would serve as well as racial epithets.

GO NAVY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s the rest of the story, courtesy Reuters and the Washington Post:

U.S. captain, held by Somali pirates freed: U.S. navy

By Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Guled
Reuters
Sunday, April 12, 2009; 1:57 PM

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - U.S. cargo ship captain Richard Phillips has been freed from captivity at the hands of Somali pirates who had held him hostage on a lifeboat after trying to seize his vessel, the U.S. navy said on Sunday.

U.S. television channel CNN said Phillips was freed unharmed and that three of four pirates holding him had been killed. It said a fourth pirate was in custody.

Maritime sources in Kenya and Somalia did not confirm the report of Phillips’ release, which appeared to end a five-day high seas standoff between the Somali gunmen and U.S. forces.

Phillips, 53, is the first American taken captive by Somali pirate gangs who have marauded in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes for years.

Three U.S. warships were watching the situation.

U.S. Navy spotters saw Phillips on Sunday morning, ship owner Maersk Line said in a statement, without giving further details.

The U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama container ship was attacked far out in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday, but its 20 American crew apparently fought off the pirates and regained control.

Relatives said Phillips volunteered to go with the pirates in a Maersk Alabama lifeboat in exchange for the crew.

“The captain is a hero,” one crew member shouted from the 17,000-ton ship as it docked in Kenya’s Mombasa port under darkness on Saturday. “He saved our lives by giving himself up.”

Experts had expected a quick end to the standoff, but the pirates are holding out for both a ransom and safe passage home. Friends told Reuters the gang wants $2 million.

Somali elders, who wield big sway their clan-based society and often negotiate solutions to kidnaps, say they have sent a mediator to sea with the aim of securing safe passage for Phillips’ release, and no ransom.

The saga has thrown world attention on the long-running piracy phenomenon off Somalia that has hiked shipping insurance costs and disrupted international trade.

(Additional reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Ibrahim Mohamed in Mogadishu, Jack Kimball, Andrew Cawthorne and Abdiaziz Hassan in Nairobi; Editing by Jon Boyle)

©2009Reuters