<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>April 12, 2009
Pirates attack
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Hostage standoff intensifies <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->MOGADISHU - PIRATES holding a US merchant captain hostage on a lifeboat near Somalia could be preparing to transfer him to another ship on Sunday, as an Italian vessel became the latest hijacking prey in the Gulf of Aden.
Amid reports of ransom demands and shots fired at US sailors trying to reach the pirates, US officials considered how best to free Captain Richard Phillips and FBI agents interviewed his crew after the Maersk Alabama docked safely at Mombasa, Kenya.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>'The captain is a hero'
ONE of the crew of the Maersk Alabama speaking to reporters from the side of the ship talked about their ordeal.
'It was something (terrifying) to encounter the pirates; they were heavily armed,' he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Talks over return of US captain collapse: report
WASHINGTON - NEGOTIATIONS over American captain Richard Phillips held hostage by Somali pirates aboard a small boat have collapsed after US officials insisted that the pirates be arrested after Phillips's return, The New York Times reported late on Saturday.
Phillips has been held hostage since Wednesday when the container ship he commanded was attacked. The Maersk Alabama, a freighter carrying 5,000 tonnes of UN aid destined for African refugees, was intercepted by four pirates.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>In Italy meanwhile, the owners of the tug captured on Saturday by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden gave more details of the 16-strong crew.
'Ten Italians, five Romanians and a Croat are on board,' Claudio Bartolotti of Micoperi Marine Contractors told AFP from the company's headquarters in Ravenna, northern Italy.
An earlier report had suggested that the boat was US-owned but operating under an Italian flag.
At around noon (6pm Singapore time), the company got word that their vessel, the 75-metre (250-foot) Buccaneer, had been captured, said Mr Bartolotti.
The news came in an email that had probably been sent by the pirates themselves, he added. He had had no word since then.
It was the latest in a series of brazen raids in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, despite the presence of an international task force there to defend international shipping through the busy passage.
US Navy forces have poured into the region amid the standoff over Phillips, who has been held hostage since Wednesday when the container ship he commanded was attacked.
Four pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama, a freighter carrying 5,000 tonnes of UN aid destined for African refugees.
Its unarmed American crew managed to regain control of the ship, but the pirates bundled Phillips into the lifeboat as they escaped.
At 8.3 pm the Maersk Alabama docked at Mombasa. Those crew members visible from the dock looked tired but happy. -- AFP
Pirates attack
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Hostage standoff intensifies <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->MOGADISHU - PIRATES holding a US merchant captain hostage on a lifeboat near Somalia could be preparing to transfer him to another ship on Sunday, as an Italian vessel became the latest hijacking prey in the Gulf of Aden.
Amid reports of ransom demands and shots fired at US sailors trying to reach the pirates, US officials considered how best to free Captain Richard Phillips and FBI agents interviewed his crew after the Maersk Alabama docked safely at Mombasa, Kenya.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>'The captain is a hero'
ONE of the crew of the Maersk Alabama speaking to reporters from the side of the ship talked about their ordeal.
'It was something (terrifying) to encounter the pirates; they were heavily armed,' he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Talks over return of US captain collapse: report
WASHINGTON - NEGOTIATIONS over American captain Richard Phillips held hostage by Somali pirates aboard a small boat have collapsed after US officials insisted that the pirates be arrested after Phillips's return, The New York Times reported late on Saturday.
Phillips has been held hostage since Wednesday when the container ship he commanded was attacked. The Maersk Alabama, a freighter carrying 5,000 tonnes of UN aid destined for African refugees, was intercepted by four pirates.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>In Italy meanwhile, the owners of the tug captured on Saturday by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden gave more details of the 16-strong crew.
'Ten Italians, five Romanians and a Croat are on board,' Claudio Bartolotti of Micoperi Marine Contractors told AFP from the company's headquarters in Ravenna, northern Italy.
An earlier report had suggested that the boat was US-owned but operating under an Italian flag.
At around noon (6pm Singapore time), the company got word that their vessel, the 75-metre (250-foot) Buccaneer, had been captured, said Mr Bartolotti.
The news came in an email that had probably been sent by the pirates themselves, he added. He had had no word since then.
It was the latest in a series of brazen raids in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, despite the presence of an international task force there to defend international shipping through the busy passage.
US Navy forces have poured into the region amid the standoff over Phillips, who has been held hostage since Wednesday when the container ship he commanded was attacked.
Four pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama, a freighter carrying 5,000 tonnes of UN aid destined for African refugees.
Its unarmed American crew managed to regain control of the ship, but the pirates bundled Phillips into the lifeboat as they escaped.
At 8.3 pm the Maersk Alabama docked at Mombasa. Those crew members visible from the dock looked tired but happy. -- AFP
