Pirates Hold U.S. Captain Hostage
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.</s>CHETRY: It's 13 minutes past the hour, and we are following all of the latest developments on this piracy situation off of the coast of Somalia. Right now, Somali pirates holding an American captain hostage on the seas over there in the Horn of Africa. A U.S. Navy destroyer is on the scene right now charged with keeping watch. Also the situation is continuing to change minute-by-minute after the pirates scaled this freighter yesterday. The crew managed to kick this band of thugs off of the ship, ended up taking one pirate hostage. They were trying to trade him for their captain. They tied him up, held him for 12 hours, returned him. It was supposed to be an exchange for their captain. Of course the pirates reneged and they are still holding the captain now in another smaller lifeboat just not too far from where the actual ship is. The ship's second-in-command, meantime, Captain Shane Murphy has been in contact with his family, as well as the captain's family. And joining us now is Shane's dad, Captain Joseph Murphy who actually teaches the course that we just showed you about on piracy and security at the maritime area there in the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Thanks for joining us this morning, Captain.</s>J. MURPHY: Good morning, Kiran. Thank you.</s>CHETRY: Give us an update about the last time you had a chance to speak to your son, Shane.</s>J. MURPHY: Well the last communication we had from the ship was actually yesterday. We haven't heard any word from Shane since yesterday afternoon. He did tell us that he was safe and that the crew was safe and that of course the concern is now focused on Captain Phillips who's in a lifeboat with the four pirates.</s>CHETRY: Yes, and can you explain a little bit about -- I understand as we had said just a few moments ago that the crew kept one of the pirates. They were going to try to have some sort of exchange take place and of course the Somali pirates reneged on that. What are -- what is the situation? What is the situation in that lifeboat? How long can they stay and in what condition is the captain likely in?</s>J. MURPHY: I would suspect that the captain is in very good condition. The lifeboat is only a 28-foot boat. It's got emergency rations for about 10 days for its capacity. It's a very uncomfortable place. It's very small. There are no toilet facilities or anything like that. The captain has a VHF radio and I'm sure that he's in voice communication with the ship itself. The problem is, of course, that the radio is going to -- the battery is going to die. And I'm not really sure how they'll continue communication after that.</s>CHETRY: Oh, great. Can you give us some sort of sense on how the crew was able to overtake the pirates because they were not armed. They did not have guns with them. They said that they finally had to -- they first tried to just get away, tried to move the ship away and these pirates were apparently firing their</s>J. MURPHY: Well we really don't know and really only supposition. They complied -- completed all of the emergency procedures that they've been trained to deal with. They've all been trained in tactics as well. I'm sure that they cornered this individual and put him in a position where he couldn't fire the weapon and they overpowered him.</s>CHETRY: Yes, just amazing, and certainly a brave act. You teach a course at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy about security, about piracy. Of course, we've all seen this escalating situation that's taking place in that area, this Horn of Africa shipping route. What do you teach them? What do you teach people who may be faced with the situation on what to do to defend themselves?</s>J. MURPHY: Well, it's all defensive procedures. There's no offensive procedure at all. The best battle is the battle never fought. Unfortunately when pirates do get up on to the ship, there are a few options available to the crew. They are taught basic (ph) measures to prevent them from coming onboard, the checks and the vigilance that's required to stand an appropriate watch for prior warning before they actually get to the ship. In this case, of course, they arrived in -- under the cover of darkness and were able to board the ship unfortunately. And this was the crew's response. This is how they chose -- they saw the opportunity and they took it.</s>CHETRY: It's wonderful that that happened. It's unfortunate as we understand it that the captain is still being held by these pirates right now, but another question a lot of people are asking, why aren't they armed? Why aren't the crews on these vessels armed or why doesn't the shipping company itself have armed guards or some sort of security knowing how dangerous this region is?</s>J. MURPHY: Well some companies do actually have armed guard forces onboard. And they do it in high-risk areas. Unfortunately, the pirates have expanded that area. This area is huge and there's just no way that they're going to put armed forces onboard. There is a certain consideration about the use of weapons on ships. Some people believe in it. Other people don't. If you're going to use weapons, you have to be well trained and you have to practice what they use. So we see many people not use them.</s>CHETRY: All right, and before we leave you, as we know, there's some comfort in knowing that this U.S. Navy destroyer is right there making sure this captain cannot be brought back to the pirate's mother ship, also making sure that no other pirates can board the Maersk Alabama. But how do you see this ending? How do you see this situation developing? What should we be looking for in terms of when they're going to release this captain?</s>J. MURPHY: Well I think what's going to happen is and very quickly, they've been boxed in. They've removed 19 other crew members into a safe environment. They're in a lifeboat. You know that's -- be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. They have few options. They don't have enough fuel to go anywhere and they're not going to be allowed to move. So they're going to sit in that lifeboat until they run out of water and food and they're going to have to make a decision. And if the weather should become bad, there's going to be a considerable amount of seasickness as well. So, we'll see what happens.</s>CHETRY: All right, well we certainly are praying for the best outcome possible and we're so glad that the other 19 are OK. We're just hoping that the captain as well can get rescued soon. Thanks so much for joining us, Captain Joseph Murphy, great to talk to you this morning.</s>J. MURPHY: Thank you.</s>HOLMES: And we will never be too far away from that situation, that hostage situation at sea as it unfolds minute-by-minute. The Navy, as you heard there, is on hand. So what message is that sending to the pirates this time around even though the Navy right now it appears is not going to be intervening? We'll be asking a former Navy SEAL just ahead. Also hundreds of British police arrest 12 men they say have ties to al Qaeda, but the whole case was almost blown by one officer's mistake. We're breaking this story down. Twenty after the hour here on this AMERICAN MORNING.