Capt. Richard Phillips, master of the Maersk Alabama who’s been held hostage since Wednesday, was rescued late this morning Eastern time. It’s been reported that when the pirates were sleeping or otherwise unaware, he made another attempt to escape and jumped overboard, at which point the Navy was able to neutralize the pirates. Of the four pirates holding him hostage, 3 were shot and killed by Navy snipers, and 1 is currently in custody on board a U.
The recent turn of events for the Maersk Alabama has had an interesting and prominent connection to Mass Maritime. As I reported in my last post, both the captain and the Chief Mate on board that ship are Academy graduates, as well as the mate being the son of one of our professors, Capt. Joseph Murphy.
Since Capt. Murphy is both closely tied to the situation and an experienced and well-known mariner himself, the news media has gravitated to him for answers like flies on butter at a picnic.
