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On April 8, 2009, the world learned about a U.S. flagged vessel being the latest merchant ship boarded by Somali Pirates. A U.S. flagged vessel had not been taken hostage in over 100 years so the media coverage was extraordinary. It seems every news channel and media outlet wanted to talk about it … the talking heads had a field day.
The Maersk Alabama was attacked about 350 nautical miles off -the coast of Somalia, while en route to Mombasa with humanitarian supplies. The crew fought back against the pirates and was able to detain one of them in hopes they could exchange him for their Captain Richard Phillips, who the pirates now held. The negotiations did not work out as intended; their captain and four Somali Pirates left in one of the 28-foot lifeboats. Captain Phillips constantly under a watchful eye always had an AK47 Assault Rifle pointed directly at him.
The Somali Pirates were attempting to reach land where they would have a stronger base and advantage to support their ransom demands. The U.S. Navy had critical decisions to make between how close they were willing to let the lifeboat get to shore, or if they would allow some of the other merchant ships under pirate control, move into the area as a show of force. Things were coming to a head very quickly, time was running out and a critical decision would have to be made.
This was setting up to be a “no win situation”, with some significant and direct changes to come once this event was sorted out. With the focus and attention that a human drama of this type can bring, everyone in the U.S. (and perhaps those friendly to the U.S.) was praying for the best outcome, and considering the circumstances I believe that is what we got.
The USS Bainbridge was on scene and played a critical role in containment of the situation. Negotiators were actively involved and able to negotiate with the pirates that the lifeboat would be tied to the USS Bainbridge and then towed to an area the pirates were more comfortable with. This proved a critical tactical mistake by the pirates’, one that ended this event. Three Snipers (U.S. Navy Seals) were in position on the USS Bainbridge and swiftly and decisively ended the standoff. Three precision shots and the three pirates onboard the lifeboat were killed instantly. The fourth pirate had previously been transferred to the USS Bainbridge for medical treatment due to the injury he sustained during the violent highjacking.
 Under the circumstances and conditions, our U.S. Navy and the SEALS team could not have done a better job. The FBI also played an instrumental role with their abilities and insight with respect to negotiations. A job well done by all hands, as the media quickly acknowledged.
As I mentioned earlier though, this is a no win situation … even with the fortunate outcome (which we are all very thankful for). I think it is very important though to acknowledge that this event could have turned out in tragedy. We should all feel thankful that it didn’t.
Maersk will get their entire crew back safely and the vessel back without any major damage. That is about as good as it will get unfortunately. There are still many things (some known, some unknown at this time) that will come from this incident.
We will still have to wait and see if the Somali Pirates will act on their threats of killing any American or French sailor that they happen to come across. This threat, apparently made from someone within the leadership of the Somali Pirates, is something that I personally do not believe the top leaders will allow to occur. Because it would definitely change the response from the United States (and allied countries), elevating the harshness of our response and certainly bringing into play a joint-decision to use significant military force to shut-down their land bases. This all remains to be seen, but certainly changes the dynamics off the coast of Somalia.
The events that I see forthcoming involve yet again the crew of the Maersk Alabama. Most people are under the impression that “the bad guys were killed and one captured for punishment … all done with this incident”. Not so fast, that is far from the truth of how these events play out in the real world.
 Now that there is a suspect in custody, and a court willing to try this suspect on numerous charges, the incident will be relived to a degree. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York announced several charges against Suspect Muse. According to the charges announced, Muse will be charged with Piracy, Conspiracy to commit hostage taking, Conspiracy to seize a ship by force, and two firearms charges. These are all very serious charges; in fact, a piracy charge alone carries a life sentence.
Keep in mind, every person who was on the Maersk Alabama when it was attacked, is a victim. What that means now, is that at some point each crewmember will have to travel to New York to testify regarding what they saw transpire. This also means they will be on the stand to be cross-examined by the defense. The defense will paint a completely different picture of what actually occurred and attempt to make everyone appear as being unreliable and providing false statements. The defense has already talked about how his client is the real victim because he was forced to do the acts that he did by some dangerous pirates. Unfortunately, all of the victims will probably have to take the witness stand at one point or another, and be subjected to intense questioning from the defense. This is never a fun thing to do, and causes you to re-live events you would like to forget.
The evidence obtained from the investigation will be a key part of the trial. Maersk will bear the expense of ensuring all of the victims are able to get to court and put them up in a hotel during the proceedings. I am sure the defense will also want to examine the vessel themselves to ensure evidence was not missed or collected incorrectly. This will require the vessel to be out of service during this time, costing Maersk for the down time. These court proceedings take time and legal fees for a case and trial of this scope will be very large. Maersk will have an enormous legal bill by the time all is said and done.
And this is just for the criminal portion of the trial.
I would not be surprised to see a civil court proceeding following the criminal proceeding, and the whole process would begin again. This would create an astronomical legal bill for Maersk. Most security services don’t take into account what will happen after the incident, and what they could have done to help if they were thinking ahead.
We at Triton Global Services are very knowledgeable about criminal and civil court proceedings, and help our clients implement procedures in their day-to-day routine and business operations to assist with court proceedings resulting from any incident or event, and greatly reduce legal fees. We also believe deterring the attack at the onset is the most efficient and safest way to avoid a situation like Maersk is currently going through. Our team is very familiar with the use of force and how that use will play out in both criminal and civil courtrooms. We are familiar with proper evidence preservation, documentation, and collection. Our focus is to provide our clients guidance and advisory services on all the above.
As I mentioned earlier in this article, I am sure everyone could imagine how this event could have been a lot worse. Now reading this article, I am sure you may realize some things that you were not aware of that will be pending for some time to come for the crew and company. This is why I believe a maritime security service company should not only have the experience to deter and defend against an attack, but also be fully prepared to provide a viable defense all the way to the courthouse. Providing credible accounts of events and transparency to all investigations has worked to my advantage for over 17 years of law enforcement experience.
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