High drama on the high seas as US Bainbridge takes on Somali |Pirates - US captain is a hostage

The Maersk Alabama was the 66th attack on shipping this year so far this year, already an increase on the 111 attacks reported off the Horn of Africa last year. - YAHOO.com

clipped from news.yahoo.com NAIROBI, Kenya – A U.S. destroyer on Thursday reached the waters where Somali pirates held the American captain of a hijacked cargo ship that was later retaken by the crew in an hours-long high seas drama. The pirates took Capt. Richard Phillips as a hostage as they escaped into a lifeboat Wednesday in the first such attack on American sailors in around 200 years. The Bainbridge was among several U.S. ships that had been patrolling in the region when the 17,000-ton U.S.-flagged cargo ship and its 20 crew were captured Wednesday. "What I understand is that he offered himself as the hostage," she said. "That is what he would do. It's just who he is and his response as a captain." "The pirates are in a very, very tight corner," Middleton said. "They've got only one guy, they've got nowhere to hide him, they've got no way to defend themselves effectively against the military who are on the way and they are hundreds of miles from Somalia."