Did the ship captain kidnapped by pirates gave them trinkets and beads in exchange for his freedom?”
The heroic captain of an American cargo ship overtaken by pirates off the coast of Somalia gave himself up to save his crew from the violent gang who threatened to kill them all, the wife of one of the crew members said today. Serena Murphy spoke to her husband, Capt. Shane Murphy, at 11:30 a.m. local time today, and he told her the Maersk Alabama’s skipper, Capt. Richard P. Phillips, saved his crew at his own expense.
A ship with seven Sri Lankans in the crew had been hijacked by Somali sea pirates off the coast of Oman. The cargo ship hijacked by the pirates belongs to a New Zealand shipping company. The local agent of the “Gradex New Zealand” company said that the ship’s crew had included seven Sri Lankans while the rest had been Philippines and Indonesians. According to him the captain of the ship had been a Sri Lankan E.M.G. Bandara from Rakwana. The rest of the Sri Lankans are First Officer Indika Ruwan Liyanage of Matara, Chief Engineer Anton Seneviratne of Maharagama and Chief Cook Sunil Amerasinghe of Kegalle, Electrician Ajith Amerasinghe of Piliyandala, Ananda Perera of Colombo 15 and Lakshman Perera. The shipping company had informed its local agent that the hijacked ship was being taken to the Somali coast. Diplomatic sources said that the company had informed the family members of the Sri Lankans taken hostage that they are in good health. The sister of First Officer Indika Liyanage sai
