Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


9

Pirates Want $2M Ransom, Threaten to Kill Captain

Share

(Newser) – Somali pirates holding an American ship captain hostage say they want a $2 million ransom and have threatened to kill him, Reuters and the AP report. The ransom demand followed an escape attempt by Richard Phillips, who attempted to swim for safety early this morning. Reports conflict on what happened next—either a pirate jumped in after him and hauled him back, or Phillips returned after one of the captors fired an automatic weapon.

After the escape attempt, the pirates dumped a two-way radio and a satellite phone Phillips was using to communicate with the Navy into the ocean. The standoff appears likely to continue. Fellow pirates are sailing other seized ships toward the lifeboat, hoping to somehow help the bandits get to land to improve their odds of escape. The US, meanwhile, is beefing up its arsenal as well.

Capt. Richard Phillips, in a file photo.
Capt. Richard Phillips, in a file photo.   (AP Photo)
Unidentified neighbors of Capt. Richard Philips tie a yellow ribbon on the fence in front of Philips' home.
Unidentified neighbors of Capt. Richard Philips tie a yellow ribbon on the fence in front of Philips' home.   (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
Andrea Phillips speaks with reporters while watching television reports about her husband, Capt. Richard Phillips.
Andrea Phillips speaks with reporters while watching television reports about her husband, Capt. Richard Phillips.   (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
Yellow ribbons line the fence in front of the home of Capt. Richard Phillips in Underhill, Vt.
Yellow ribbons line the fence in front of the home of Capt. Richard Phillips in Underhill, Vt.   (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
11.20.09
The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun
9 comments
VIEWING:
 
Newser001
Apr 10, 09 2:30 PM CDT
This has to come to an end... My wish, they would use snipers to eliminate the hostage takers. When Phillips' initially bolted from the raft, they should have killed all of the pirates. Unfortunately, either no one was on a 'real watch' on the naval ship(s), or it was simply implausible. All ships should cary a contingency of military who can best deal with such threats, with all tankers directly escorted by military; akin to the 'liberty' tactics utilized during WWII. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
AClotfelter
Apr 10, 09 2:55 PM CDT
We can't pay this ransom... can you imagine the carnage if all the pirates thought they could get a huge payday by doing this?? The military should have taken the chance he gave them this morning and killed those SOBs... Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
Reader65887255
Apr 10, 09 3:24 PM CDT
Fellow pirates are sailing other seized ships toward the lifeboat, hoping to somehow help the bandits get to land to improve their odds of escape. What a wonderful opportunity to sink a few pirate ships. The US can easily monitor and identify any and all movement toward the hostage location. Any vessel not retreating after being warned off should be sunk. Sink pirate ships and boats and be done with it. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
shonangreg
Apr 10, 09 11:54 PM CDT
This is good, Reader. Use the current situation to bring more pirates in for capture, but the summary says the other ships are seized too. You can't really sink them so easily . . .
Vote up! Vote down!
0
nick
Apr 10, 09 3:33 PM CDT
I see no satisfactory, violence-free conclusion to this incident. People are going to die. The optimum solution might well end up being for the US to accept one casualty on our side in exchange for the killing the four pirates currently holding him hostage, while simultaneously opening up fire on, and blasting to kingdom-come, all the other supportive pirates that have arrived in the immediate area- hopefully, a hundred or more. We have to send a resounding message here: This pirate idiocy has to stop. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0

View all 9 comments »

LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

79 Stories

Pirates Holding 12-Year-Old Girl for Ransom

Released hostage says he saw child, other women aboard vessel

2 hours, 18 minutes ago
(Newser) - A just-released pirate hostage says the Somalian scallywags are holding a 12-year-old Ukrainian girl captive aboard the British ship Ariana. Captain Ricardo Blach, whose ship, the Alakrana, was released last week after six weeks of captivity, says the pirates at one point brought him aboard the Ariana, where he met... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Somalia • pirates • hostage

 Maersk Alabama Repels 
 2nd Pirate Attack 

Attempted takeover repelled by guards

Nov 18, 09 6:30 AM CST
(AP) - Somali pirates today attacked the Maersk Alabama for the second time in seven months, but guards on board the US-flagged cargo ship repelled the takeover attempt. When pirates attacked with automatic weapons early this morning about 350 nautical miles east of the Somali coast, guards on board the craft fired... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Somalia • ship • piracy • pirates • cargo ships • Maersk Alabama • Richard Phillips

Somali Pirates Demand $7M Ransom for UK Couple

Paul and Rachel Chandler went missing a week ago

Oct 30, 09 5:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - The British couple abducted from their yacht at gunpoint are being held for $7 million ransom, a rep for the Somali pirates who kidnapped them said today. Paul and Rachel Chandler went missing a week ago in the Indian Ocean. "NATO operations had a lot of negative impact here,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Somalia • kidnapping • abduction • Indian Ocean • pirates • yachts • ransom • African • Paul Chandler • Rachel Chandler

79 Stories


Captain's family describes escape attempt
Boston Globe

French hostage dies in separate rescue attempt
BBC


US 
TwitterFollow @NewserUS on Twitter

 
Somalia • kidnapping • piracy • Indian Ocean • pirates • Horn of Africa • hostage • Maersk Alabama • Richard Phillips

from our news partners