AhoyCargo

On behalf of the A.P.Moller - Maersk Group, Michel Deleuran, Group Senior Vice President and Maersk Line Head of Network and Product, welcomed the news of Captain Richard Phillips’ rescue and the safe return of the crew of MAERSK ALABAMA.

“We are very pleased that the Master of MAERSK ALABAMA, Captain Richard Phillips, has been rescued. We want to extend deep appreciation to everyone involved and responsible for this very successful outcome,” said Michel Deleuran, Group Senior Vice President and Maersk Line Head of Network and Product.

An American cargo ship captain held hostage by pirates in a lifeboat off the coast of Somalia is once again a free man, and is now resting comfortably on a U.S. Navy vessel following a daring rescue. Richard Phillips was freed by the Navy commandos in an operation that resulted in the deaths of three of his captors.

Captain Richard Phillips is free and safe. He was rescued by members of an elite U.S. navy unit, after a brief firefight at sea that left three of his four captors dead and one in custody.

In a written statement, U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed word of the successful rescue operation. He said the United States remains resolved to halt the rise of piracy in the region. And he vowed to work with America's allies to prevent future attacks, go after the pirates when they do occur, and make sure those responsible are held accountable for their crimes.

Somalia's new government says it would be able to deal decisively with the piracy problems off its shores if the international community would provide logistical support and supervision to its navy. This comes after Somali pirates defied international naval powers and are holding hostage the capital of an American ship on a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean. The pirates tried to hijack U.S ship Maersk Alabama Wednesday, but Captain Phillips thwarted the takeover by offering himself as a hostage.

Abdulrahman Haji Ibbi is the Somali minister for Fisheries. He tells reporter Peter Clottey that if such support had been forthcoming, the pirates would not have posed the problems they now causing off the Somali coast.

"This problem of the piracy in Somali sea waters is a problem and a very difficult thing for everybody. But for us it is not a difficult thing because we as Somalis have to show our experience of how we can handle and tackle these kinds of problems. But we are deeply sorry and it is regrettable all these expenses that the international community is spending towards addressing this piracy issue sending all their naval vessels to Somali sea waters without doing anything at all," Haji Ibbi said.

He said several requests by the Somali government to help solve the piracy problem have fallen on deaf ears.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday the United States is trying to recruit additional countries to join anti-piracy naval operations along the African east coast in the wake of this week's pirate attack on a U.S.-flagged cargo ship. Clinton vowed to bring the hijackers of that ship to justice.

Obama administration officials are working to augment the international anti-piracy task force off the Somali coast, even as efforts continue to free the American captain still held by pirates on a lifeboat from the container ship.

At a State Department press event, Clinton called those holding ship captain Richard Phillips nothing more than criminals. She said numerous U.S. assets including the Navy and Federal Bureau of Investigation are being brought to bear to end the hostage situation and bring the pirates to justice.

An anti-piracy resolution by the U.N. Security Council in December authorized countries around the world to deploy patrol vessels in anti-piracy operations off Somalia and warships from at least a dozen countries - including the United States, Russia, China, India and Japan -- are currently deployed.

The United Nations' World Food Program says the U.S.-flagged container ship anchored off the coast of Somalia is carrying items to feed hundreds of thousands of starving people in Somalia, Uganda and Kenya. The ship's captain is being held hostage by pirates, who seized the vessel and its crew of 20 Americans Wednesday as it sailed toward the Kenyan port of Mombasa.  

World Food Program spokesman in Nairobi Peter Smerdon says there is concern that if the container ship, Maersk Alabama, cannot reach Mombasa soon, many people in the region may not get the foodstuffs they need to sustain them in the coming months.

Ship was carrying food for mothers, children

Smerdon says the WFP cargo includes more than 4,000 tons of corn-soya blend for malnourished children and mothers in Somalia and Uganda and nearly 1,000 tons of vegetable oil for refugees in Kenya. Smerdon says there are many more containers of food aid belonging to the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies.

"We need to keep a constant pipeline of food coming both to Somalia and to other countries in the region," said Smerdon. "Otherwise, we have to cut rations and people will go hungry. Basically, this amount of food would feed hundreds of thousands of people for a month. It is only a part of the basket of food we give people in the region. But it is an important part."

The Maersk Alabama was scheduled to arrive in Kenya on April 16. But, early Wednesday, the Danish-owned, American-operated ship was seized nearly 500 kilometers off the coast of Somalia by four armed hijackers. The hijacking was the first of its kind involving an American crew in modern history.

Efforts are continuing to free an American cargo ship captain held hostage by Somali pirates.

Senior U.S. officials declined to provide details on the situation off the Somali coast. Vice President Joe Biden simply said the administration was working "round the clock" to resolve the issue.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters President Barack Obama has been kept up to date on the state of affairs.
"The president has followed the situation closely, has got updates throughout yesterday and today," he said. "And obviously, his main concern is for the safety of the captain and the rest of the crew on the ship. And he will continue to receive those updates."

Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill, Vt., is seen in this family photo released on 08 Apr 2009

The incident occurred Wednesday when Somali pirates boarded the container ship Maersk Alabama about 500 kilometers off the coast of Somalia. The 20 man crew regained control of the Danish-owned, American-operated ship. But the ship's captain - Richard Phillips - was taken hostage as the pirates escaped aboard a lifeboat.