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Somali pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at a US cargo ship yesterday but failed to hijack it. None of the 20 American crewmen on The Liberty Sun was injured in the brazen midday attack in international waters off Somalia, but the vessel sustained unspecified damage, according to its owner, Liberty Maritime of Long Island. "We are under attack by pirates, we are being hit by rockets. Also bullets," crewman Thomas Urbik wrote his mother in an e-mail. "We are barricaded in the engine room and so far no one is hurt. [A] rocket penetrated the bulkhead but the...

After four days of floating at sea on a raft shared with four Somali gunmen, Richard Phillips took matters into his own hands for a second time. With the small inflatable lifeboat in which he was being held captive being towed by the American missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, and Navy Special Warfare (NSWC) snipers on the fantail in position to take their shots at his captors as soon as the command was given, the captive captain of the M.V. Maersk-Alabama took his second leap in three days into the shark-infested waters of the Indian Ocean. This diversion gave the Navy...

U.S. Navy snipers opened fire and killed three pirates holding an American captain at gunpoint, delivering the skipper unharmed and ending a five-day high-seas hostage drama on Easter Sunday. The pirates were pointing AK-47s at Capt. Richard Phillips and he was in "imminent danger" of being killed when the commander of the nearby USS Bainbridge made the split-second decision to order his men to shoot, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said.

I just finished listening to the press conference w/ ADM Gortney about the rescue of Captain Phillips. At the time it happened the USS Bainbridge was towing the lifeboat to calmer waters as the sea state was deteriorating. One of the pirates was on board the Bainbridge as the talks about obtaining Phillip's release continued. The lifeboat was approx. 25 m behind the Bainbridge when snipers on the fantail observed one of the pirates in the pilot house of the lifeboat pointing an AK-47 at the back of a tied up Phillips and the other two pirates on board were...

I just watched the news conference from the Navy right now. The US Navy had convinced the pirates to let the Bainbridge take the life boat in tow! They were using the enflatable vessel to ferry food and water to the prirates so they were used to using it at that point. They also convinced one of the pirates to board the Bainbridge and act as a go between in the negotiations. That is the one who lived. While towing the lifeboat, apparently two of the pirates we leaning head and shoulders out of the windows, and the thrid was...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Navy is moving a huge amphibious ship closer to the scene of the pirate hostage standoff off Somalia. Defense officials say the USS Boxer will be nearby soon. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss sensitive ship movements. The Boxer is the flag ship for a multination anti-piracy task force. The Boxer resembles a small aircraft carrier. It has a crew of more than 1,000, a mobile hospital, missile launchers and about two dozen helicopters and attack planes. Two other Navy ships are expected to remain much closer to...

US warship reaches Somali coast Pirates are believed to be holding Capt Richard Phillips hostage An American warship, the USS Bainbridge, has reached the area off the coast of Somalia where a cargo ship was seized by pirates a day earlier. US crew members have recaptured their ship but the captain is still being held hostage by the attackers. The pirates' boat is floating near the Maersk Alabama, its owners told the Associated Press. Officials are waiting for sunrise to see what happens. The ship was taken about 500km (311 miles) off Somalia's coast. Other US vessels are speeding towards...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The owner of the Maersk Alabama, the American cargo ship held by Somali pirates, says a U.S. Navy warship has arrived off the coast of Somalia. A spokesman for the ship company Maersk, Kevin Speers, tells AP Radio that the destroyer USS Bainbridge is on the scene. He adds that the boat with the pirates is floating near the Maersk Alabama.

The U.S. is closing in on pirates that hijacked a U.S.-flagged ship off the coast of Somalia. According to a spokesman for the owner of the Maersk Alabama, which had been hijacked by pirates before American crew members were able to regain control of the vessel Wednesday, a U.S. Navy warship arrived at the scene Wednesday night. The ship's captain still is being held hostage on a smaller boat. Family members said Capt. Richard Phillips surrendered himself to the pirates to secure the safety of the crew. "What I understand is that he offered himself as the hostage," said Gina...