Two Mass. Maritime graduates led hijacked ship
By Peter Schworm and and Milton Valencia, Globe Staff
A crew commanded by two graduates of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy regained control of a cargo ship seized by a small band of armed Somali pirates today, thwarting the first attack on a US-flagged vessel in recent memory.
The bold maneuver reportedly forced a tense standoff with the pirates, who fled the vessel in a lifeboat with the ship’s captain, Richard Phillips, a 53-year-old from Underhill, Vt., and a 1979 graduate of the Bourne college. The attack marked the most dramatic example to date of the mounting threat the pirates pose to the international shipping trade in the volatile waters off the Horn of Africa.
Relatives of Phillips and of Shane Murphy of Seekonk, 33, a 2001 graduate and the ship’s chief officer, anxiously monitored the often murky news reports throughout the day. They described the two men as dedicated seamen who understood the danger of encountering armed attackers and were fiercely protective of their crews.
Phillips, a 53-year-old who grew up in Winchester and who has two college-aged children, has worked as a ship’s officer for more than two decades and often sailed to the Middle East, said his sister-in-law, Lea Coggio, who was anxiously monitoring developments late yesterday with her sister and Phillips’ wife, Andrea.
‘‘This has been incredibly hard on her,’’ she said. ‘‘But we are hoping for the best.’’
Phillips’ capture left Murphy in command of the Maersk Alabama, a 17,000-ton cargo ship bound for Kenya to deliver humanitarian aid. Murphy’s father, Mass. Maritime professor Joseph Murphy, said today that the crew is apparently safe after somehow wresting control of the vessel from at least four well-armed attackers.
‘‘They are all Boston Irish kids, and they are tough,’’ Murphy said of the crew, his voice wavering with emotion. ‘‘They believe what they believe, and did what they had to do.’’
Shane Murphy, who lives in Seekonk with his wife Serena and two young boys, called his wife at 10 a.m. today to tell her the pirates had taken over the ship and seized Phillips, the family said.
Serena Murphy, 31, said in an interview at her home tonight that her husband managed to phone her several times during the ordeal, assuring her that the pirates seemed willing to negotiate and that he would be safe.
‘‘He’s a tough guy, and he said to me ’I will be able to make it back to my boys no matter what,’ ’’ she said.
Although he had never faced a pirate attack, his wife said, he was keenly aware of the risk in that part of the world.
‘‘He would hear it on the radio, of other ships being captured,’’ she said. ‘‘It was just a matter of time before it would be his ship.’’
With the pirates stranded in a small craft hundreds of miles from land, and several US Navy ships rushing to the scene, Joseph Murphy said he was hopeful Phillips would escape unharmed.
CNN reported that the attackers were holding Phillips for ransom after apparently breaking a deal to exchange him for a captured pirate.
"’We had one of their hostages, we had a pirate,’’ Ken Quinn, the second mate, told the cable network by phone from the ship. ‘‘We took him for 12 hours. We tied him up. We returned him. But they didn’t return the captain.’’
The elder Murphy, who teaches a class in anti-piracy techniques at the 1,000-student academy, said it was remarkable for a unarmed merchant crew to retake a vessel from heavily armed mercenaries.
‘‘From what I understand, they took the ship back with sheer force,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s just incredible. They are well drilled and very determined.’’
The stunning scenario cast a spotlight on the Bourne college, which recently had received national attention for its innovative anti-piracy course that included firearms training for the first time in the school’s history.
Just three weeks ago, between voyages to the Middle East, Shane Murphy had visited his father’s anti-piracy class at the academy. In an unflinchingly lecture, he described the escalating threat of pirates in the lawless waters off the coast of Somalia and told cadets the danger was unlikely to subside soon.
Pirates boarded the ship nearly 300 miles off the coast of Somalia after a chase that lasted more than three hours, Joseph Murphy said. The crew of the 17,000-ton vessel tried to outrun and elude the pirates but were eventually caught and taken by force at about 7:30 a.m.
‘‘There was a massive amount of gunfire,’’ said Murphy, who had spoken with officials from the ship’s owner. ‘‘They tried evasive maneuvers, but once that [the gunfire] started, that was it.’’
The crew was unarmed, he said. The crew notified the Navy before it was captured, but the nearest warship was more than 300 miles away.
The Maersk Alabama is part of a line, owned by a large Danish company, that is based in Norfolk, Va. It routinely works under contract for the Defense Department.
Modern-day pirates often launch small, fast-moving motorized craft from a larger ship, typically one disguised as a fishing vessel. These tactics allow pirates to range far from land, with some hijackings occurring more than 400 miles out at sea.
Phillips began working on commercial vessels after college and gradually climbed the ranks, Coggio said.
‘‘He had been going over there for years, and knew the risks,’’ she said from the family’s home in Underhill, 16 miles east of Burlington, Vt. ‘‘He knows his stuff.’’
Coggio described Phillips as easygoing outside of work, but fiercely competent as a captain, and strongly protective of his crew, she said.
‘‘When he’s in charge, he goes to a different level,’’ she said. ‘‘He has a lot of responsibility.’’
Richard Gurnon, president of Mass. Maritime, said the college community was stunned to learn that two of its graduates were on board but inspired by the crew’s courage. He imagined that the crew might have taken matters into their own hands, like the passengers on United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.
‘‘My guess is it was like the ‘Let’s Roll’ passengers,’’ he said. ‘‘They decided it was now or never.’’
Material from wire services was included in this report. Correspondents Erich P Schwartzel, Stewart Bishop, Michele Richinick also contributed.
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A tone should be set toward those considering a future attack against U.S. ships in the area. The White House should take an ulta aggressive approach in securing this vessel and eliminating the pirates on board. This should be treated as an act of war against the U.S. and the military in the area should act accordingly.
GOOD LUCK TO THEM. HOPE TO SET FREE S00N.
One will note the pirates waited until President Bush was out of office and Obama is in office before they started attacking US ships.
It is critical that the motherships of these pirate vessels be sunk. It should be fairly easy for satellite tracking data to back track a speedboat vessel to its mother ship. from there the ship should be sent to the bottom. Only through the elimination fo these mother ship pirate vessels will we get a handle on the piracy problem
They messed with the wrong Marine...r. Hope it is true and they tied the pirated up to concrete and tossed them over...:)
Go Bucs!!!
Dear Sir(s).... My suggestion (comment) would be for the United Nations by International Law, allow for a small group of "Armed"( ie. Swat Team) say 5 heavly armed to be aboard these large shipping vessels! They interrn could, during transit, briefly train the crew for these involvements!!
Thank you jfd
Arm the merchant vessels and blow the pirates out of the water! Why is the world so reluctant to pursue blatant criminals?
Go Bucs! You guys are the best!
When will we start making them pay for hijacking these ships? They receive millions in ransom money what's the incentive to stop? Are we just waiting for a major catastrophe to happen major oil spill and lost lives to put a stop to it. Maybe so ! lets make friends with with radical Muslims, Mexicans crossing the borders, and ship hijackers maybe they will change there way's if we are nice to them. Obama invite them to the white house for some bowling, or basket ball that may work or give them some bailout money what the hell.
Meow
It sounds well and good to attack them but the US does not want to piss off another Country by killing one of there citeznes. As stupid as it sounds it is the truth. The are afraid of doing somehting "politically In correct"....its a shame.
As a 2007 grad, this hits home hard. Good luck to them, and to all of our grads on the high seas!!
Resources.....resources.....resources......Everyone wants more security but few are willing to pay for it. Including the companies of these privately owned vessels that send the ships into harms way.
This is why they should stop making movies like Pirates of the Caribbean that show pirates, in a good light. Pirates have been, are currently, and will continue to be a menace to civilized nations.
Pirates, eh? Well, they had just better be careful, or President Obama might find it necessary to issue a statement that could be construed as mildly critical of piracy.
You don't want that.
I went to HS with Shane. He was a good guy. I hope he makes it out alright.
This is why The US is the greatest country in the world. This is why the US 'bows" to no one. While others cower and plead, Americans fight back and take care of themselves. These guys are heroes.
Odumba, the pirates waited because Dubya probably would have invaded their country and they would have had no place to go. I suppose people of your ilk would have supported that invasion, too.
It’s not quite as simple as people make it out. The Italians and others have dumped all their toxic waste off Somalia while European fishing ships have swept the seas there clean of fish. The Somali fisherman there have been left without any legitimate source of income because of the Europeans. They took to what was left to them, piracy.
Bravo to the US crew. Something has to be done here to stop this once and for all but it has to be a solution which the Europeans, notably the Italians, take care of what they have destroyed.
Response to post #3:
You sir, are an idiot. The attacks began over a year and a half before Bush left office.
I think we should simply fire missiles into any boats that approach within two miles of any commercial ships. Period. We do need to be hyper-vigilant against piracy.
Arh Matey, I say we turn broadside and unload the cannons on the pesky pirates! Arh !!
The solution to the Piracy problem here does not lie at sea. Only a few hundred individuals at best are responsible for the majority of piracy incidents in this area. We need only to establish who they are, where they live, their operating bases etc... Then we send in some our special forces in the middle of the night to exterminate the pirates (no trials), sink their boats and destroy their homes. Some may object to harsh measures like this. However, THIS is how you will make the problem go away!
I hope that the news of these pirates being thwarted is true. What I don't understand is why they don't carry sniper rifles on board these ships? A few well-aimed shots at these guys should have them turning tail to find a softer target.
WHERE IS THE US NAVY???? The US Navy was founded to fight pirates over 200 years ago. We kicked the butts of the Barbary Pirates then, why aren't they doing more now to get these guys. Its a national embarrassment.
Let the French at them. The French navy doesn't take any pirate crap.
"Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute!"
yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Whether it's in a dark alley in a big city or on a freighter in the middle of the ocean, if you're not armed, you're asking to be a victim. Will people ever go back to taking responsibility for their own safety?
Arm the crew of these ships, heavily. It won't require sending more than 2 or 3 groups of these so-called "pirates" to a bloody grave at the bottom of the sea for the rest of them to get the message that messing with a U.S. ship is a bad idea.
First and foremost. Prayers for those aboard. Their safe return is paramount.
Second, we need to track them down and send a clear message, it's an act of war. Hit them where it hurts -- take out their vessels (Be it at port or sea) and track their money. (Simply killing them might simply provoke them to kill our people... drawing us into a larger conflict which we don't want).
Don't mess with the United States of America.
"Odumba" (that's clever, really)
That's right. Let's turn this into a political thing. I hate to break it to you, but the rest of the world does not think Republican vs. Democrat.
You will notice that I spelled those two political parties names correctly and didn't use some snarky, 5th grade nick-name. Some people may not realize it, but when you use those childish names in an attempt to make that person/political party look bad, you are really only discrediting yourself.
Hally,
I'm pretty sure that the movie didn't incite these pirates to start attacking, but maybe they were at Disney World and saw the ride and the exorbitant prices charged in the park and got inspired.
Aew you crazy about that foolish comment about Bush leaving.
Where have you been living for the pasy 8 years.
These theives have been dong this for a year.
Stcik to reading the Herald will you
Prsident Obama has done more in 60 days that your guy Bush did in 8 years.
You just can't admit it. You and the rest of your republican party are dead in the water and looking more foolish by the day.
You are now just the party of BO
Odumba you are completely ignorant. Fewer than 200 US non-military international commercial transport vessels fly under the US flag, less than 5% of all at sea. Thanks in large part to Republican trade and finance policies put into action under Reagan it is simply too expensive to use US transport companies and vessels to ship goods overseas and almost the entire lot is outsourced to foreign countries such as German and Denmark. They didn't go after this boat due to some perceived weakness in our current government, there just aren't that many US vessels to go after in the first place so our number finally got pulled.
I agree, let's blow these morons out of the water. Let's launch a drone aircraft and sink their rotting little boats.
Does anyone really think that these guys are anything other than opportunist? They do not care what flag is flying on a ship. They are no different than burgalers looking for an unlocked door. Hell the Russians had a ship loaded with tanks hi-jacked and they paid up. If a snake like Putin wouldn't send that ship to the bottom, why would we?
it has been 200 years since a vessell with american colors have been pirated WHAT NOW???
"one of two New Englanders who commanded the ship"
"is the chief officer on the"
I wish the Globe would pay someone to train them on the rudiments of military and quasi-military organization. Any Globe story concerning those organizations only serves to confuse a reader.
Last I heard, only one man (woman) commands a vessel at sea. I'm willing to bet this is still the case.
Almost all merchant ships are set up Captain, First Mate, Second Mate, Third Mate. This may have also changed in the 20+ years since I was at sea.
I still have no idea what a chief officer is.
C'mon, it's not that hard to learn how this stuff is organized. In this article, a professor at Mass Maritime was interviewed, couldn't the reporter have asked him?
Please stop merging titles from Tom Clancy movies, Star Trek and TV and put out some real info.
Where is President Thomas Jefferson when we need him! Mr. Jefferson got tired of paying ransom to Barbary (Islamic) pirates in the early 1800s and sent the Navy and Marines to fight them. Today we send lawyers with our fleet to monitor strict adherence to the rules of engagement, and to read any pirates we capture their Miranda Rights. No wonder crews of American merchant ships practice self defense. They should be careful, however. If they cause harm to one of the pirates, Spain or the World Court might have them arrested for assult and rights violations.
This is an unbelievable, movie like story. I am praying for all these guys that they will have a safe return home!!
If these pirates are not careful, President Obama might find it necessary to issue a statement that could be construed as mildly critical of piracy.
You don't want that.
There needs to be security on these cargo ships. Also, the crew needs all the tools necessary to defend themselves. It should not be left up to the companies to decide whether or not to do so since it appears that the companies would rather risk capture of their crew and cargo then spend the money to have a few well-trained security officers.
Also, as noted in earlier comments -- they need to go after the "mother" ship. Apparently that ship directs attacks.
My thoughts and prayers are with my union Brothers and Sisters on the Alabama
MEBA
MM&P
SIU
Who's paying the bill? Is the US Military now in the business of protecting merchant ships in international waters? Maersk stated they purposefully do not arm their ships or crew, and company policy is to simply hide the safe room until help arrives.
You morons claiming this is somehow a political ploy by the Somalis taking advantage of what you perceive to be a 'weak president' is giving them too much credit. The pirates don't care about US politics, they simply want to cash in on what has been very easy pickings off the Gulf of Aden - British, US, Japanese and everyone else.
Maybe your business is different, but when you want protection (see Banks, Nightclubs, Transportation, etc.) you typically have to pay for it. Maersk chose not to do so, and here are the consequences of that decision. WAKE UP! NOT EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD IS POLITICAL!
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Capt. & crew for a swift and safe end of this horrible situation. The increase of pirate attacks is an indication that these criminals know they can get away with it. Something has to be done now. My son is a Freshman Cadet at Mass. Maritime Academy and my father-in-law, an Alumni. This situation hits too close to home.
You guys are idiots. 1st Somalia was at peace until some political from Saudi and Europeans decided to play games. We all know and don’t say that Somali has a lot of oil than Saudi because it’s at a lower level. Last president before all this his name was Siyad Bare decided to do an oil search with one of the Asian oil company until he was giving some money by some Arabs. Later on in 1989-1990 he decided to do another oil exploration. This is when Arabs and Europeans decided to play the manipulation games, they placed flame in between. This is when war broke out and I don’t need to tell you what has happened after. With lawless, you have a change to dump a toxic waste, steal fishes, and chance to do with whatever you want because no government.
Now we are feeling the pain because some stupid oil hungry and a king who is an idiot’s mess. I don’t really blame these fools because they got nothing better to do. But that doesn’t mean they should run around do stupid things like this. We need to make this Arabs accountable because they are way closer to this country and have all of our money. Make them send their ships they are not far so they can have as many ships as possible around.
Mike
Thank you to the crew for your long hours and hard work in delivering goods to the world on a United States flagged ship. Maersk should be proud of the teamwork and experienced crew in dealing with the pirates.. the men and women aboard these ships are gone for long periods of time and never would anyone think this would happen to an American flagged ship in 2009. my prayers are with the captain and his family. Without ships there would not be the quality of life we have come to expect in the United States.
Let us all hope for the safe return of Captain Philips. As an MMA grad currently sailing in the Coral Sea, I am proud of my classmates and companies such as MAERSK with the courage to continue efforts such as these bringing aid to nations in need such as this one that was bringing humanitarian aid to Kenya.
Piracy is not a new thing as it has been around since the first vessel set sail. They do not care who owns the ship or what they are carrying, it is greed pure and simple and politics plays no role in all of it. It is good to see that MMA is training mariners for the real world, go BUCS!
We will do nothing we have been globally emasculated by our leader.. Biden was right whwn he said something would happen and we would be surprised by O's response or lack of. The good news is his poll numbers are up and he fired up for his vacation on the Vinyard this summer.
Go Bucs! I hope the shooting range at MMA is still up and running. Thoughts to the families and to the impressive staff of Massachusetts Maritime Academy!
The crew of the Maersk Alabama deserve our respect and admiration for the sacrifices they make in service to our country. They too are our heros. Let's keep them and "they that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters" (Psalm 107:23) in our prayers.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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