Alabama Engineer to Arkansas Engineer - After Pirates left Alabama
During Pirate Siege in April of 2009
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The
message is from Maersk Alabama to Maersk
Arkansas (which
is on the same run to Africa)
To: Maersk Arkansas - 1st Engineer Subject: from Matt Fisher
Hey Greg,
Everyone on
here is
okay. We're on
our way to Mombasa with Navy protection on board. Captain
Phillips is still
hostage in the lifeboat with the 4 pirates. I hear
they're flying out
reliefs for everyone, but I'm not sure what all's going to happen
once we get to
Mombasa . Supposedly the FBI is coming out to
investigate the crime.
Maybe we'll be on the next CSI Somalia.
I wanted to
let you know some of the lessons
we learned so
you guys can better prepare yourselves for something
similar. The only
guys actually captured by the pirates were on the bridge: Capt, 3/M,
and 2
AB's. I
don't really know why they stayed on the bridge until the pirates got
up
there.
Then they had keys to everything and were able to unlock everyone's
rooms.
The pirates
got up to the bridge very quickly
once they were onboard. We
had a locked cage door
over the
ladder well from main deck, but
it only took a second for them
to shoot it
off. They then got to the
bridge up the outside ladders.
By that time we
had taken control of the engine
and steering down below.
Mike stayed in the ECR and the C/M was out on deck tracking the pirates' movement. We kept swinging the rudder side to side. The pirates' boat capsized, though I'm not sure exactly when or what caused it. After about 20 minutes the engine was killed, I don't know by whom. At that point I shut off the air bottles and Mike killed power. He was also able to get outside and trip the fuel shutoff for the EDG. I think this was critical. The pirates were very reluctant to go into the dark. We will be looking at a way to shut off the EDG from the ECR in the future.
All the crew had been mustered and secured in the steering gear. Our pirates didn't have any grenades, so they would have never been able to break in there. The previous day we had welded a padeye on the inside of the hatch to the fantail so it was secured from the inside. The only problem with the steering gear was the heat and the shortage of water. In the future we will store food and water in various spots for emergency usage. I think we will also run a fresh water line into the steering gear. We were able to make a run from the steering gear to the E/R water fountain and fill up some empty oil sample bottles we had back there. The C/M was also able to get some fruit and sodas from the galley and drop them down the line standpipe.
The pirates
sent the 3/M unescorted to go
look for
crewmembers, so he was able to
get away. One of the
pirates then went
with an AB down to the E/R to
look for people. Mike was
able to jump him
in the dark and we took him prisoner in the steering gear. No one else
came down into the E/R.
As the day went on the pirates became desperate to get out of there. There boat was sunk, and they couldn't get our ship moving. The Captain talked them into taking the MOB boat. The three remaining pirates went down in the MOB boat with Phillips. We were then able to negotiate with them over the radio. We dropped some food, water and diesel to them. We started getting the plant back on line. Unfortunately, the MOB boat wouldn't start. A couple of guys got in the lifeboat and dropped it. They motored over and traded the lifeboat for the MOB boat. We were supposed to exchange their guy for the Captain, but they ended up keeping him. They motored off in the lifeboat. They had no way of getting back aboard, so we followed them. The Navy showed up a few hours later. We stayed close by for some time, but then the Navy asked us to head out. I heard that several other pirate vessels were heading our way and the Navy wanted us out of the way. That's about it. I'll give you all the details some other time. Just to reiterate the most important points: Have a well fortified location with food and
water supply.
Kill all the lights. Leave the
alarms going, the noise helped
cover our movements
through the house.
Flashlights and radios are very
handy, as well
as the sound-powered
phone. Anyway, it was a
pretty stressful
situation. I have to say I am impressed with how the entire crew
responded. We
didn't have anybody who wanted
to give up. I'm pretty confident
that Phillips
will end up ok. They have to
know that if they kill him
they'll be done.
I assume the company will be
forced into taking some kind
of action to
assure our security from now
on. Hope everything is going
well there.
I'll talk to you later. Matt
Email from Bob
McEliece to
Connie Buhl to Lary Harris to Vern
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| Maersk Alabama Alva Maersk was built by China Shipbuilding
Corporation, Keelung, Taiwan as yard number 676 and launched in 1998.
As Alva Maersk, she was flagged to Denmark. In 2004, Alva Maersk was
renamed Maersk Alabama and
reflagged to the United States, homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. She
has been involved in two incidents, and remains in active serice on
Maersk Line's East Africa 4 service. Her regular route is from the
United States to Salalah, Djibouti
and Mombasa.
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The American ship, the Maersk Alabama,
whose captain remains held hostage by Somali pirates, arrives in
Mombasa, Kenya, with the 19 remaining crew members aboard, Saturday
April 11 2009. Capt. Richard Phillips is still being held in the
lifeboat hundreds of miles from land. U.S. warships are nearby
monitoring the situation. The U.S.-flagged ship was attacked by Somali
pirates firing automatic weapons Wednesday but its unarmed crew locked
themselves in a secure room and then overpowered one of the pirates. AP – USS Bainbridge enters the harbour at Mombasa, Kenya, Thursday, April 16, 2009, shadowed by a police boat, |
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