US Cargo Ship Repels Pirates
被索马里海盗劫持的美国货船船员周三晚间重新夺回了船只控制权，但船长仍被海盗扣留在一艘救生艇上作为人质；周四拂晓，美国海军一艘驱逐舰抵达现场。这幕公海争夺战发生在印度洋东非海岸数百英里处。索马里海域海盗横行，攻击事件急剧上升，这一最新事件加大了美国和各国海军指挥官遏制此类事件的迫切性。这是索马里海盗首次劫持美国海员；至少一开始，海盗劫持了20名美国船员，引发了一起潜在的国际人质危机。单是去年秋天以来，已经有数十艘船只在该地区被劫持并缴纳了巨额赎金。虽然船只通常会被释放，船员也没有受伤，但相关谈判总是拖延数月。Associated Press马士基•阿拉巴马号船长菲利普斯这艘名为马士基•阿拉巴马(Maersk Alabama)的货船被劫持时正运送食品援助至肯尼亚。这艘船的所有者是丹麦船运巨头A.P.穆勒-马士基有限公司(A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S )旗下美国子公司。据他们表示，除了船长菲利普斯(Richard Phillips)仍然被扣，其他所有船员周三都安然无恙。周四清晨，美国海军班布里奇号驱逐舰(USS Bainbridge )抵达现场评估状况，与船员建立联系并威慑阻止海盗采取进一步暴力行动。但预计该驱逐舰不会进行直接干预。美国国防部一位官员说，他们不打算动用武力进行干预。数小时之前，一位自称是船员的人通过船上的卫星电话说，我们仍然在麻烦中，并将问题提交给船只所有者。船员们没有携带武器，但由于该船经常运送军事货物，因此船员们比许多船只接受了更多的安保训练。该船二副奎恩(Ken Quinn)通过电话对CNN表示，尽管船员们交出了此前扣留的一名海盗作为交换，但船长菲利普斯目前仍被劫持在一艘救生艇内。奎恩说，我们放了那名海盗，但他们却没有交还船长。奎恩说，船长菲利普斯似乎没有受到伤害，船员们一直试图以向海盗提供食品为条件进行谈判，但没有太好的效果。一名人士说，船长仍通过无线电与船只保持着联系。袭击发生在索马里一个臭名昭著的海盗港埃尔港(Eyl)东南240海里的海域。海盗成群结队地驾着从母艇上放下来的小船，把袭击推到距离海岸越来越远的水域；同时世界各国的战舰突降这个地区，打击针对国际航运的极度猖獗的海盗袭击。马士基•阿拉巴马号是一艘相对较小的集装箱船，与大部分船体较高海盗不易登船的船只相比，这艘船成了一个更易得手的目标。Associated Press马士基•阿拉巴马号货船马士基(Maersk Line Ltd.)的总裁兼首席执行长莱因哈特(John Reinhart)在弗吉尼亚州诺福克紧急召开的新闻发布会上说，在遭受这样的袭击时，船员的标准程序是寻找船上较安全的房间进去躲避。马士基是这艘受袭船只的东家和运营商。他说，出于对安全的考虑，船员被指示不要与上船的袭击者主动交火。他说，他们的火力没有袭击者强大。不过，这次遭遇的船员数量和受训水平可能也出乎海盗意料。华盛顿一位海事法专家托马斯(Matthew Thomas)说，与其他很多国家类似尺寸的船只相比，美国要求悬挂美国国旗的船上有更多的船员。他说，很有可能海盗遇上的船员比他们预料的要多。二战后的十年里，美国曾经庞大的商业船队锐减，现在公海上很少见到悬挂美国国旗的货船，不过仍有数十艘这样的船在全球海域上航行。华盛顿签下船只悬挂美国国旗，以满足其在全球的物流需求，而马士基则是美国军方和政府的一个主要运货商。马士基说，这次船上的货物都是为联合国世界粮食计划署和其他援助机构运往肯尼亚蒙巴萨港的援助食品。世界粮食计划署驻肯尼亚分支机构证实船上有该组织约4,100吨玉米大豆混合食品。世界粮食计划署发言人斯默登(Peter Smerdon)说，这些食品是用于解决儿童和妇女营养不良问题的，目的地是索马里和乌干达。他说，另外有990吨的蔬菜油是用于援助肯尼亚难民的。东非的食品援助机构最近抱怨该地区的海盗威胁。袭击的威胁令船主不愿走这一地区的航线，推高了援助机构的成本减少了援助物资数量。Chip Cummins / Louise Radnofsky / Philip Shishkin相关阅读原声视频：美国船员从索马里海盗手中夺回货船 2009-04-09原声视频：人质讲述被海盗劫持的经历(中文字幕) 2009-02-02原声视频：中国军舰vs.现代海盗 2008-12-29中国考虑派军舰清剿索马里海盗 2008-12-18
The American crew of a hijacked cargo ship off the shore of Somalia regained effective control of the vessel late Wednesday, but the pirates held the captain hostage on a lifeboat and a U.S. Navy destroyer arrived on the scene as dawn approached there.The high-seas drama, unfolding a few hundred miles from the East African coastline in the Indian Ocean, ratchets up the stakes for U.S. and international naval commanders seeking to counter a surge in attacks in piracy-wracked waters there.The attack was the first on American sailors amid the current spate of piracy attacks in the region, and initially at least, the capture of a crew of 20 Americans posed a potential international hostage crisis. Dozens of ships have been taken and held for large ransoms just since last fall. Though the ships generally are released and crews unharmed, talks can drag on for months.The Maersk Alabama was carrying food aid to Kenya when it was captured. Except for the captain being held, Richard Phillips, all the ship's crew members were reported safe Wednesday with no injuries, according to the ship's owner, a U.S. subsidiary of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk AS.Early Thursday morning, the USS Bainbridge arrived to gauge the situation, establish contact with the ship's crew and potentially deter the hijackers from further violence by its presence. But it was not expected to intervene directly. 'They're not going to go in with guns blazing,' said a U.S. Defense Department official.Hours earlier, a person identifying himself as a crew member answering the ship's satellite phone said, 'We're still in trouble,' and referred questions to the ship's owner. Crew members don't carry firearms but Maersk often ships military cargo, and its crews get more security training than on many ships.The ship's second mate, Ken Quinn, told CNN by telephone that Capt. Phillips was being held in a lifeboat, even after the crew handed over a pirate they had been holding as an exchange. 'We returned him but they didn't return the captain,' he said.Mr. Quinn said Capt. Phillips appeared unharmed and that the crew had also been trying to negotiate by offering the pirates food, but 'it's not working too good.' A relative said the captain was in touch with his ship by radio.The attack took place 240 nautical miles southeast of a known Somalia pirate haven called Eyl. Small bands of pirates, operating from skiffs launched by larger mother-ships, have pushed attacks farther and farther offshore as warships from around the world descend on the region to combat the dramatic upswing in attacks against international shipping.The Maersk Alabama was a relatively small container ship, making it an easier target than most that have hulls too high for pirates to gain access.John Reinhart, the president and chief executive of Maersk Line Ltd., the owner and operator of the vessel, said in a hastily called news conference in Norfolk, Va., that standard procedure in such an attack would be for crew members to seek out safe rooms in the ship.Crew members are instructed 'not to take on active engagement' against onboard attackers, he said, because of safety concerns. 'They'd be outgunned,' he said. Still, pirates may not have expected the size and training of the crew they encountered. Matthew Thomas, a maritime-law expert in Washington, said that the U.S. requires larger crews on ships bearing its flag than many other countries do for similar-size vessels.'It's quite possible that the pirates got more than they bargained for in terms of seafarers,' he said.America's once giant commercial shipping fleet diminished sharply in the decade after World War II, and a U.S.-flagged cargo ship is now a rare sight on the high seas, but dozens of them still ply global waters. Washington contracts American-flagged ships to meet its logistical needs around the world, and Maersk Line is a major shipper for both the U.S. military and the U.S. government.Maersk said in this case the vessel's cargo was all food aid headed for the Kenyan port of Mombasa, for the United Nations World Food Program and other aid agencies. The WFP in Kenya confirmed the agency had about 4,100 metric tons of corn soya blend aboard. The blend is used to combat malnutrition in children and mothers, and was destined for Somalia and Uganda, said WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon. An additional 990 metric tons of vegetable oil was headed for refugees in Kenya, he said.Food-aid agencies in East Africa have recently complained about the region's piracy menace. The threat of attacks has made ship owners reluctant to agree to take on routes in the region, forcing up costs for aid agencies and reducing deliveries.Chip Cummins / Louise Radnofsky / Philip Shishkin
The American crew of a hijacked cargo ship off the shore of Somalia regained effective control of the vessel late Wednesday, but the pirates held the captain hostage on a lifeboat and a U.S. Navy destroyer arrived on the scene as dawn approached there.The high-seas drama, unfolding a few hundred miles from the East African coastline in the Indian Ocean, ratchets up the stakes for U.S. and international naval commanders seeking to counter a surge in attacks in piracy-wracked waters there.The attack was the first on American sailors amid the current spate of piracy attacks in the region, and initially at least, the capture of a crew of 20 Americans posed a potential international hostage crisis. Dozens of ships have been taken and held for large ransoms just since last fall. Though the ships generally are released and crews unharmed, talks can drag on for months.The Maersk Alabama was carrying food aid to Kenya when it was captured. Except for the captain being held, Richard Phillips, all the ship's crew members were reported safe Wednesday with no injuries, according to the ship's owner, a U.S. subsidiary of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk AS.Early Thursday morning, the USS Bainbridge arrived to gauge the situation, establish contact with the ship's crew and potentially deter the hijackers from further violence by its presence. But it was not expected to intervene directly. 'They're not going to go in with guns blazing,' said a U.S. Defense Department official.Hours earlier, a person identifying himself as a crew member answering the ship's satellite phone said, 'We're still in trouble,' and referred questions to the ship's owner. Crew members don't carry firearms but Maersk often ships military cargo, and its crews get more security training than on many ships.The ship's second mate, Ken Quinn, told CNN by telephone that Capt. Phillips was being held in a lifeboat, even after the crew handed over a pirate they had been holding as an exchange. 'We returned him but they didn't return the captain,' he said.Mr. Quinn said Capt. Phillips appeared unharmed and that the crew had also been trying to negotiate by offering the pirates food, but 'it's not working too good.' A relative said the captain was in touch with his ship by radio.The attack took place 240 nautical miles southeast of a known Somalia pirate haven called Eyl. Small bands of pirates, operating from skiffs launched by larger mother-ships, have pushed attacks farther and farther offshore as warships from around the world descend on the region to combat the dramatic upswing in attacks against international shipping.The Maersk Alabama was a relatively small container ship, making it an easier target than most that have hulls too high for pirates to gain access.John Reinhart, the president and chief executive of Maersk Line Ltd., the owner and operator of the vessel, said in a hastily called news conference in Norfolk, Va., that standard procedure in such an attack would be for crew members to seek out safe rooms in the ship.Crew members are instructed 'not to take on active engagement' against onboard attackers, he said, because of safety concerns. 'They'd be outgunned,' he said. Still, pirates may not have expected the size and training of the crew they encountered. Matthew Thomas, a maritime-law expert in Washington, said that the U.S. requires larger crews on ships bearing its flag than many other countries do for similar-size vessels.'It's quite possible that the pirates got more than they bargained for in terms of seafarers,' he said.America's once giant commercial shipping fleet diminished sharply in the decade after World War II, and a U.S.-flagged cargo ship is now a rare sight on the high seas, but dozens of them still ply global waters. Washington contracts American-flagged ships to meet its logistical needs around the world, and Maersk Line is a major shipper for both the U.S. military and the U.S. government.Maersk said in this case the vessel's cargo was all food aid headed for the Kenyan port of Mombasa, for the United Nations World Food Program and other aid agencies. The WFP in Kenya confirmed the agency had about 4,100 metric tons of corn soya blend aboard. The blend is used to combat malnutrition in children and mothers, and was destined for Somalia and Uganda, said WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon. An additional 990 metric tons of vegetable oil was headed for refugees in Kenya, he said.Food-aid agencies in East Africa have recently complained about the region's piracy menace. The threat of attacks has made ship owners reluctant to agree to take on routes in the region, forcing up costs for aid agencies and reducing deliveries.Chip Cummins / Louise Radnofsky / Philip Shishkin