Ship captain 'gave himself up'

Captain Joseph Murphy, speaking today at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, said the captain of a ship hijacked off Somalia gave himself up to pirates to protect his crew. Murphy's son, Shane, was also aboard the ship, which is back in US hands. (Video by John Ellement)

By Peter Schworm and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

The Vermont captain of a hijacked cargo ship apparently volunteered to be taken hostage to protect his crew, his family said today, as they prayed for a peaceful resolution to the standoff with Somali pirates.

A day after seizing the Maersk Alabama before losing control of the unarmed vessel to its 20-member crew, the pirates are demanding a ransom and safe return to Somalia in exchange for Richard Phillips, a 53-year-old Winchester native from Underhill, Vt. A US naval destroyer had arrived at the scene of the attack, while the cargo ship was returning to Kenya.

Family members said they have been in close contact with officials from the US State Department and the shipping line that operates the Alabama. Phillips is being held by a group of four pirates in a powerless lifeboat drifting 300 miles in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia, as the US Navy and FBI hostage negotiators tried to secure his release.

"We're waiting in limbo," Tom Coggio, Phillips's brother-in-law, said from his Vermont home. "It's such a helpless feeling."

Coggio said his sister, Phillips's wife Andrea, had been told that Phillips, a 1979 graduate of Massachusetts Maritime Academy who often traversed the pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa, likely agreed to be taken captive to prevent bloodshed.

"That's just the type of guy he is," Coggio said. "He put the lives of those other 19 sailors ahead of his own. I don't think he was trying to be a hero. He was just trying to defuse the situation and get those SOBs off the ship."

Phillips and his captors have received food and water from the ship, Coggio said. The family has not been able to speak with him, but Kevin Speers, a spokesman for the ship company, said at a news conference this morning that Phillips had not been harmed.

"We're just praying for a happy ending," Coggio said.

Joseph Murphy, a professor at Mass. Maritime whose son Shane is the second-in-command on the Alabama, said an armed, 18-member US Navy security detachment has boarded the vessel, which is heading back to its original destination of Mombasa, Kenya, to deliver humanitarian goods.

When they reach land, the crew will leave the ship and fly back to the United States. Murphy expects his son back home by Tuesday or Wednesday. The father talked about the ordeal on the grounds of the Maritime Academy, where a cadet leaned over the railing of the USS Kennedy, the school's training ship, to ask about Shane.

"He's safe," said Murphy, a burly, bearded man who wore the academy uniform, which resembles the US Navy's dress blues. "My son is coming home."

The father spoke in a calm, even tone, only showing emotion when he talked about Phillips's sacrifice.

"I believe he saved my son's life," Murphy said, as his voice cracked and his eyes watered.

Phillips said he hoped the military would try to wait out the captives and not attempt an armed rescue.

"There is nowhere for them to hide," Murphy said. "They are in an orange lifeboat designed to be visible."

Murphy, a former ship's captain who was at the helm of tankers and trade vessels for three decades and now teaches a maritime security course, said his son grew up on the ocean. He recalled Shane as a baby wearing a life preserver in a portable crib on the deck of his grandfather's lobster boat.

Last month, Shane Murphy visited his father's course to warn cadets about the dangers of piracy. On his Facebook page, he wrote, "I feel like it's only a matter of time before my number gets called."

The hijacking, the sixth by Somali pirates within a week, marked the first attack on a US-flagged ship in memory, officials said, and underscored the escalating threat to commercial ships in the volatile region.

Somali pirates currently hold a dozen ships, with more than 200 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau. They have staged 66 attacks since January.

Yesterday, in a dramatic turnaround, the crew reclaimed control of the ship by capturing one pirate and negotiating their own release, a ship's mate told CNN. The crew believed they had brokered an exchange for Phillips, but the pirates apparently broke the deal and fled the ship in a small rowboat.

The 17,000-ton vessel was taken in a hail of gunfire after a chase that lasted several hours, Murphy said.

Coggio described Phillips as a devoted family man who loved playing basketball at the Y, snowboarding and tubing, and boating on Lake Champlain. An easygoing personality with a thick Boston accent, Phillips made friends quickly, he said.

"You can't help but like the guy," he said, quipping that "he's probably made friends with the four in the lifeboat."

The family would continue to keep a quiet vigil and hope for the best, he said.

"We're just praying like the dickens," he said. "We're Irish and Italian, so there's a lot of prayer going around."

Family members said Phillips had left Vermont for the United Arab Emirates about two weeks ago for the voyage from Oman to Kenya.

Patty Howard, Phillips's younger sister, said she and other family and friends were gathered at her Southborough home "just waiting on pins and needles for his return."

"There's really not much we can say," she said. "We are all praying for him and we know it's going to be a positive outcome. We know he's level headed and has a sense of humor. We hope he keeps it during this difficult time."

Andrew Ryan and Megan Woolhouse of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

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