Sharpshooters firing from the fantail of a U.S. Navy destroyer killed three pirates holding an American cargo-ship captain in a lifeboat, ending a five-day ordeal that unfolded amid a surge in piracy off Somalia’s coast.
Richard Phillips, 53, captain of the Maersk Alabama, was untied, pulled from the lifeboat and brought unharmed aboard the USS Bainbridge, said Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.
The Navy acted because Phillips’s life was threatened by pirates who were aiming weapons at him, Gourtney said. The on- scene commander “had seconds” to make a decision, he said. During Phillips’s captivity, the Navy sent a small boat to and from the lifeboat to supply food, water and medicine, Gortney said. He said officials conducted “hostage negotiations” rather than discussions over a possible ransom. Threatened With Death “They were threatening throughout to kill the captain,” Gortney said. The Bainbridge had the lifeboat under tow shortly after 7 p.m. local time, roughly an hour after sunset, according to Gortney and a Navy press release. The vessel was 25 to 30 meters away when special forces commandos opened fire, Gortney said. “We pay a lot for their training,” Gortney said of the snipers. “We got a good return on their investment tonight.” Phillips was untied, put into a lifejacket, and taken by small craft first to the Bainbridge and then flown to the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, Gortney said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYQ7OXxMzdyU&refer=home
Edited by Hawken Cougar 4/12/2009 23:07
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"Hooray" for the US NAVY SEALS!!
