Sweet Home Alabama! Maersk ship escapes pirates

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London: Maersk Alabama, the 1,100 TEU container vessel that was attacked by pirates and hijacked is now in full control of its crew although one crew member is held hostage by the attackers, Maersk Line said. The armed hijackers who boarded the ship have departed. “ The other members of the crew are safe and no injuries have been reported. We are working closely with the U.S. military and other government agencies to continue to respond to this situation as it develops further.”
The hijack took place at around 05.00 UTC on Wednesday.The US flagged vessel has a crew of 20 US nationals and is owned and operated by Maersk Line, Limited in the US. The vessel is deployed in Maersk Line's East Africa service network and was en route to Mombasa, when it was attacked approximately 500 kilometres of the Somalia coast. [09/04/09]