thedrifter
04-17-09, 08:42 AM
Reunited with families, crew recalls fear, daring
By LARRY MARGASAK and CALVIN WOODWARD
The Associated Press
OXON HILL, Md. — "If I die I'm going to take someone else with me," one seaman vowed, grabbing a knife as alarms pierced the Maersk Alabama and pirates with assault weapons clambered aboard.
Back home safe with their families Thursday, the cargo ship's crew described a harrowing contest of wits and mismatched weapons over control of the vessel.
The crew cut power. One bandit was led to the dark engine room, where two mariners struggled to tie him up and one stabbed him.
The crew prevailed, at the cost of seeing their skipper taken hostage on a lifeboat for five days. Freed by Navy SEAL marksmen who killed three of his captors, Capt. Richard Phillips has his own homecoming ahead.
"I'm just so relieved and overwhelmed that it's over," said third engineer John Cronan, of Merion, Pa. "I'm home now. The greatest country in the world."
Festive mood
A chartered flight delivered the men into the arms of their families early Thursday. Everyone was spirited off to luxurious quarters outside Washington to celebrate and recuperate.
The setting at Gaylord National Resort was a far cry from the crushing heat, shouts and fears that enveloped the ship off the African coast when pirates made it aboard on their third try.
Electrician John White, of Lake Helen, Fla., was having coffee in the galley before breakfast when the alarms went off and he was told to secure two doors and hide.
"The ship was totally dark," he said. "It was 130 degrees in the place. We were hiding for 12 hours. I laid down on the floor to keep from passing out."
Crewman A.T.M. "Zahid" Reza, of West Hartford, Conn., said he and his mates led the pirate leader, Abduhl, to the darkened engine room.
"I held him, I tied his hands and tied his legs," said Reza, originally from Bangladesh. I told him, 'You're a Muslim and I'm a Muslim.'
"He was fighting me. There was a lot of yelling, shouting and screaming. I was attempting to kill him. He was scared. He said he was planning to ask for $3 million."
During the struggle, Reza said, he stabbed the pirate in the hand.
That episode probably saved the bandit's life. Days later, his wound festering, he went on the destroyer USS Bainbridge to get his hand treated and to negotiate over Phillips' fate. While he was aboard the destroyer, U.S. snipers shot and killed the three pirates still on the lifeboat, freeing the Maersk Alabama captain unharmed.
Flashlight, knife
Crewman Miguel Ruiz, of New York City, said that when the pirates boarded the ship, he grabbed a flashlight and a knife, went to a secure area and thought, "If I die I'm going to take someone else with me."
Phillips tried to keep his men calm as they gathered in designated parts of the ship. "We got orders to do nothing," Ruiz said.
Yet several crewmen had the wounded pirate bound up. They gave him water and food. "We are merchant marines," Ruiz said. "We are not killers."
He recalled an exchange with one of the pirates, who were aged 17 to 19: "I said to him, "Why do you do that?' " The pirate, Ruiz said, responded: "We've got 20 million people in Somalia who are poor, that don't have education. We don't have no food."
Added seaman William Rios, also from New York, "We had control of the ship."
The seamen told their story in bits and pieces Thursday, in the company of loved ones who had cheered their homecoming after midnight on a wet, cold tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
They found a feast of beef, lobster risotto, wine and beer at the resort.
Headed back
Maersk Alabama crewmen who addressed the question said they planned to go back to sea. They and their families asked the United States and other naval powers to make their work safer.
"Something needs to be done to protect the crews," said Robert Vaughan, of Dallas, a brother of third mate Colin Wright. Still, he said of his brother, "He'll be back out there. That's his job."
Second mate Ken Quinn, of Bradenton, Fla., acknowledged he'll worry when sailing pirate-infested waters again. "It would be good to be armed," he said, "but if we start shooting at them, they might start killing more seamen."
Ruiz's wife recalled how she heard about the attack on the ship.
"My daughter answered the phone," she said through a translator. "She wasn't talking, but her eyes were full of tears. I felt nervous and couldn't control myself."
Ellie
By LARRY MARGASAK and CALVIN WOODWARD
The Associated Press
OXON HILL, Md. — "If I die I'm going to take someone else with me," one seaman vowed, grabbing a knife as alarms pierced the Maersk Alabama and pirates with assault weapons clambered aboard.
Back home safe with their families Thursday, the cargo ship's crew described a harrowing contest of wits and mismatched weapons over control of the vessel.
The crew cut power. One bandit was led to the dark engine room, where two mariners struggled to tie him up and one stabbed him.
The crew prevailed, at the cost of seeing their skipper taken hostage on a lifeboat for five days. Freed by Navy SEAL marksmen who killed three of his captors, Capt. Richard Phillips has his own homecoming ahead.
"I'm just so relieved and overwhelmed that it's over," said third engineer John Cronan, of Merion, Pa. "I'm home now. The greatest country in the world."
Festive mood
A chartered flight delivered the men into the arms of their families early Thursday. Everyone was spirited off to luxurious quarters outside Washington to celebrate and recuperate.
The setting at Gaylord National Resort was a far cry from the crushing heat, shouts and fears that enveloped the ship off the African coast when pirates made it aboard on their third try.
Electrician John White, of Lake Helen, Fla., was having coffee in the galley before breakfast when the alarms went off and he was told to secure two doors and hide.
"The ship was totally dark," he said. "It was 130 degrees in the place. We were hiding for 12 hours. I laid down on the floor to keep from passing out."
Crewman A.T.M. "Zahid" Reza, of West Hartford, Conn., said he and his mates led the pirate leader, Abduhl, to the darkened engine room.
"I held him, I tied his hands and tied his legs," said Reza, originally from Bangladesh. I told him, 'You're a Muslim and I'm a Muslim.'
"He was fighting me. There was a lot of yelling, shouting and screaming. I was attempting to kill him. He was scared. He said he was planning to ask for $3 million."
During the struggle, Reza said, he stabbed the pirate in the hand.
That episode probably saved the bandit's life. Days later, his wound festering, he went on the destroyer USS Bainbridge to get his hand treated and to negotiate over Phillips' fate. While he was aboard the destroyer, U.S. snipers shot and killed the three pirates still on the lifeboat, freeing the Maersk Alabama captain unharmed.
Flashlight, knife
Crewman Miguel Ruiz, of New York City, said that when the pirates boarded the ship, he grabbed a flashlight and a knife, went to a secure area and thought, "If I die I'm going to take someone else with me."
Phillips tried to keep his men calm as they gathered in designated parts of the ship. "We got orders to do nothing," Ruiz said.
Yet several crewmen had the wounded pirate bound up. They gave him water and food. "We are merchant marines," Ruiz said. "We are not killers."
He recalled an exchange with one of the pirates, who were aged 17 to 19: "I said to him, "Why do you do that?' " The pirate, Ruiz said, responded: "We've got 20 million people in Somalia who are poor, that don't have education. We don't have no food."
Added seaman William Rios, also from New York, "We had control of the ship."
The seamen told their story in bits and pieces Thursday, in the company of loved ones who had cheered their homecoming after midnight on a wet, cold tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
They found a feast of beef, lobster risotto, wine and beer at the resort.
Headed back
Maersk Alabama crewmen who addressed the question said they planned to go back to sea. They and their families asked the United States and other naval powers to make their work safer.
"Something needs to be done to protect the crews," said Robert Vaughan, of Dallas, a brother of third mate Colin Wright. Still, he said of his brother, "He'll be back out there. That's his job."
Second mate Ken Quinn, of Bradenton, Fla., acknowledged he'll worry when sailing pirate-infested waters again. "It would be good to be armed," he said, "but if we start shooting at them, they might start killing more seamen."
Ruiz's wife recalled how she heard about the attack on the ship.
"My daughter answered the phone," she said through a translator. "She wasn't talking, but her eyes were full of tears. I felt nervous and couldn't control myself."
Ellie