Thursday, April 9, 2009

Maersk Alabama heading to Kenya under armed guards

USS Bainbridge has rendezvoused with Maersk Alabama and sent 18 guards on the Alabama. The guards will stay with the Alabam until it reaches Kenya for crew replacement.

The USS Bainbridge is monitoring the pirates who are holding the captain hostage and have called in the FBI in order to negotiate with the pirates.

The only negotiation that should be taking place is with a squad of Navy Seals. AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Armed guards have boarded the freighter that pirates briefly hijacked off the coast of Somalia, as the vessel sails to Mombasa, Kenya for a crew replacement, the father of a crewman said Thursday.

A US warship, the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, has positioned itself near the freighter and the lifeboat where the pirates are holding the ship's US captain hostage.

The lifeboat, however, has apparently run out of fuel, and the US Navy has called in the FBI to help negotiate the release of Captain Richard Phillips, US officials said here.

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