(CNN) -- Pirates near Somalia's coastline attacked a cargo ship Wednesday with a crew of at least 20 U.S. nationals, according to the company that owns the vessel.
The hijacked ship is believed to be similar to the vessel pictured.
It is believed that the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama then was hijacked, according to a statement from Maersk Line Ltd. If so, it would be the sixth hijacking over the past week.
The vessel was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was attacked about 310 miles (500 kilometers) off Somalia's coast, the statement said.
U.S. government sources said the attack happened at about 7:30 a.m. local time. The nearest U.S. Navy warship was about 300 nautical miles, or 345 miles, away at the time, they said. The U.S. Navy issued another notice Tuesday warning mariners that the Somali piracy activity was extending hundreds of miles offshore.
A Maersk subsidiary in Norfolk, Virginia, owns and operates the cargo ship, Maersk spokesman Michael Storgaard said. He would not provide any details about the security arrangements on board the Maersk Alabama.
"We have very strict policies on the vessel. ... Crews are trained to handle these types of situations," Storgaard said from Maersk's headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.
He said the company is in the process of contacting the crew members' relatives and setting up assistance for them.
"That is at this moment our primary concern," Storgaard said.
The Maersk Line is one of the U.S. Defense Department's primary shipping contractors, but the Maersk Alabama was not under the Pentagon's contract at the time of the attack, according to Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. military's 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
Storgaard said the Maersk Alabama was carrying "general cargo," most likely including aid supplies to East Africa.
No action has been taken so far against the pirates, Christensen said.
"There is a task force present in the region to deter any type of piracy, but the challenge remains that the area is so big and it is hard to monitor all the time," he said.
He said U.S.-flagged ships are not usually escorted by the military unless they request it from the U.S. Navy.
Recent attacks off Somalia's coast, which have taken place south of the area patrolled by U.S. and coalition ships, show
pirates are changing their tactics and taking advantage of tens of thousands of square miles of open water where fewer military ships patrol, according to U.S. military officials.
"They [pirates] are going where we are not; they are looking for targets where there is limited coalition presence," according to a U.S. military briefing document shown to CNN.
Christensen said, "It appears the pirates are operating in a different fashion. It's a lot like cops on a beat. The criminals will go where they're not."
Coalition ships mainly patrol in the busy sea lanes of the
Gulf of Aden between Yemen and northern
Somalia as ships come out of and head toward the mouth of the Red Sea.
"Despite increased naval presence in the region, ships and aircraft are unlikely to be close enough to provide support to vessels under attack. The scope and magnitude of the problem cannot be understated," according to a Navy news release.
Movement might be low key for a minute
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Crew members of a U.S.-flagged ship have regained control of the vessel from pirates who seized it, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.
Attackers hijacked the Maersk Alabama, shown here, formerly known as the Alva Maersk.
Pirates took the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama early Wednesday.
The crew is believed to be safe, and one pirate is in custody, the official said. It's unclear whether other pirates remain on board the ship or whetherthey have fled, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
John Reinhart, CEO and president of Norfolk, Virginia-based Maersk Line Ltd., which owns the ship, declined to confirm reports that the crew had regainedcontrol of the vessel.
"We had one communications earlier today from the crew, we were told the crew was safe," Reinhart said.
The vessel, carrying 20 American crew members, was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was attacked about 500 kilometers (310 miles) off Somalia'scoast, according to a statement from Maersk Line Ltd.
The hijacking was the sixth over the past week.
The ship was attacked about 7:30 a.m. when the nearest U.S. Navy warship was about 300 nautical miles away, government sources said. On Tuesday, the U.S.Navy warned mariners that pirates were attacking ships extending hundreds of miles offshore.
Maersk spokesman Michael Storgaard would not provide any details about the security arrangements on board the Maersk Alabama.
"We have very strict policies on the vessel ... crews are trained to handle these types of situations," Storgaard said from Maersk'sheadquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/08/ship.hijacked/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
The Maersk Line is one of the Department of Defense's primary shipping contractors, but the Maersk Alabama was not under the Pentagon's contract atthe time of the attack, according to Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. military's 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
The Maersk Alabama is 155 meters (508 feet) long and 25 meters (82 feet) wide. It was built in 1998.
The vessel was carrying food aid to East Africa, including shipments from the United Nations' World Food Program, a Maersk statement said.
"There is a task force present in the region to deter any type of piracy, but the challenge remains that the area is so big and it is hard to monitorall the time," Christensen said. "The area we patrol is over a million square miles. We can't be everywhere at once."
He said U.S.-flagged ships are not usually escorted by the U.S. Navy unless they request it.
See how pirate attacks have increased »
Pirates are changing their tactics and taking advantage of tens of thousands of square miles of open water where fewer military ships patrol, according toU.S. military officials.
Recent attacks off
Somalia's coast have taken place south of the areapatrolled by U.S. and coalition ships.
"They [pirates] are going where we are not, they are looking for targets where there is limited coalition presence," according to a U.S. militarybriefing document shown to CNN.
Coalition ships mainly patrol in the busy sea lanes of the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and northern Somalia as ships come out of and head toward the mouth ofthe Red Sea.
Navy officials say about 12 to 15 coalition ships are patrolling in the Gulf of Aden.
"Despite increased naval presence in the region, ships and aircraft are unlikely to be close enough to provide support to vessels under attack. Thescope and magnitude of the problem cannot be understated," according to a news release from the U.S. Navy.
Between January and February, only two pirate attacks off Somalia were reported, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy attacksworldwide.
In March, attacks in the same area spiked to 15, according to the bureau, and the attacks have continued into April.
On Monday, pirates seized a British-owned cargo ship in the
Gulf of Aden.Also on Monday, a fishing trawler was hijacked and used to hijack other fishing vessels, the bureau said.
Pentagon officials say pirates are holding 15 ships off the Somali coast. According to U.S. Navy statistics, pirates attacked four ships between Saturdayand Monday.
Pirates typically use small boats with a limited range to attack ships just a fewmiles off the coastline.
The new warning says pirates are striking ships hundreds of miles off the coast, suggesting that they are using more "mother ships" -- biggerboats with longer range -- to launch smaller pirate ships farther out to sea, according to Pentagon officials.
The U.S. Department of Transportation'sMaritime Liaison Office also warned mariners on April 1 that ships traveling along the coast of Somalia and Kenya should move to the east side of theSeychelles Islands and Madagascar, hundreds of miles east of those coastlines
