By LUIS MARTINEZ, DANA HUGHES and ZOE MAGEE
NAIROBI, Kenya, April 8, 2009 — 

A crew of American sailors turned the tables on Somali pirates today who hijacked their ship after a high seas chase - and then were overpowered by the U.S. crew. 

The pirates picked on the wrong ship when they went after the Maersk Alabama, a 17,000 ton container ship carrying relief aid to Mombasa, Kenya. 

They attacked the Alabama, formerly named the Maersk Alva, in the Indian Ocean about 300 miles from the Somali coast. 

The ship is crewed by 20 Americans under the command of Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill, Vt. Also on board is Capt. Capt. Shane Murphy, 34, the ship's chief officer, according to the Cape Cod Times. Both men are graduates of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Murphy's father, Capt. Joseph Murphy is a professor at the academy. 

The crew of the Alabama turned the pirate raid into a long running battle. 

A Defense Department official said when the pirates first tried to board the Alabama, the crew contacted the British Maritime Trade Organization which advised the crew to take evasive action and turn their powerful firehoses on the pirates' skiff. 

The tactic succeeded in repelling the pirates and the Alabama broke away, the Defense official said. 

A five hour chase began before the pirates tried to board a second time. The crew again called the British Maritime Organization during a 15 minute struggle with the pirates. No weapons were involved, the official said. 

The call to the Maritime Trade Organization ended when someone with a non-American accent yelled, "Put the phone down," and the line went dead, the official told ABC News. 

Four pirates were reported to be aboard the Alabama and they almost immediately demanded a ransom, although it was now known how much they want, the Defense official said. 

The ship was reported to be "dead in the water" and operating on auxiliary power. It had food and fuel for 30 to 45 days, indicating the neogitations could be a long haul, the official said. It wasn't such a long haul after all. Hours later reports came back that the crew was back in control of the Alabama. 

"It is our understanding that the crew is back in control of the ship," a Defense official told ABC News. The official said there were no reports of injuries. 

Maersk President Can't Confirm Crew Retakes Ship
Nevertheless, John Reinhart, president of Maersk Line Co., declined to confirm that the crew had taken the ship back. 

"We had a communication about an hour and a half ago from the vessel that said the crew was safe," he said about 12:15 p.m. 

"He did not say they had taken back the vessel," Reinhart said. "Called to let you know we are all safe right now and then the call was cut off." 

He also said that the crew is unarmed and he did not expect them to battle pirates. 

"Once boarded, the crew has safe rooms and they're not to take on active engagement because they have no weapons, it would be a risk to their lives," Reinhart said. "They'd be outgunned." 

'It would be inapproriate for them to try to be heros," he added. }We want them to come home safely." 

Before the ship was recaptured, the hijacking caused international alarm. 

The White House issued a statement saying, "The White House is closely monitoring the apparent hijacking of the U.S.-flagged ship in the Indian Ocean and assessing a course of action to resolve this situation. Our top priority is the personal safety of the crew members on board." 

The capture of the Alabama marked the first time that American seamen have been seized by pirates who infest the shipping lanes off the east coast of Africa. 

Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program also confirmed the ship's seizure to ABC News and said the crew is reported to be "safe." Mwangura said it is the first time he can recall that American seamen have been seized off the pirate-infested Somali coastline. 

Mwangura could not recall the last time Americans were captured by pirates. "Over 100 years ago," was his estimate. 

"To take away an American ship is not easy," Mwangura said. "Maersk is a big company, with good security and good management. It's one of the companies with proper security training for seamen." 

Destroyer Bainbridge Heads to Hijacking Location
The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said the ship was seized at 7:30 a.m. local time in the Indian Ocean, about 240 nautical miles east of the Somali town of Eyl. There was a U.S. Navy warship 300 nautical miles away when the Alabama was boarded, but the Navy is not discussing what operations its ships in the area might be undertaking in the wake of the attack. 

A Defense Department official told ABC News that the U.S. destroyer Bainbridge was heading toward the location where the Alabama was captured. The official said the Bainbridge intended to get close enough to the container ship to be able to monitor the situation. 

The Bainbridge was not expected to take any military action, the official said, because the shipping line had indicated it would handle the crisis through negotiations with the pirates and the Navy usually defers to the ship owners as to what course of action will be taken. 

Roger Middleton, Somali piracy expert from the London-based think tank Chatham House, said the capture of American sailors "puts the stakes much higher, and the U.S. will be watching them very closely." 

For the pirates, "this is not necessarily a bad thing, as Americans are more valuable than say Fillippinos or even Brits. Their ransom demands will be commensurately higher, but it comes at a much higher risk." 

Fifth Fleet heads an international naval task force to deter piracy off the coast of Somalia. The European Union and NATO also have naval task forces in the area to combat pirates. Just Tuesday, they issued a new warning to mariners in the region about increased pirate activity. 

Mwangura said the attack on the Maersk Alabama demonstrates the change in the pirates' tactics by attacking ships away from the Gulf of Aden to the Indian Ocean where most of the Navy task force is concentrated. The pirates are now hunting in the Indian Ocean east and south-east of the Somali and Kenyan coastline. 

Five Ships Seized in 48 Hours
Maersk Alabama was the sixth ship to be taken hostage in five days, and five of them have been captured in the last 48 hours. 

At least three have been hijacked near the Seychelles Islands, some 400 miles south of the Somali coastline, and well out of the range of the Gulf of Aden where the Navy is patrolling. A U.S. Defense Department official said one reason there has been a sudden increase in the number of seizures is because the waters off of Africa's east coast have become calmer following an extended period of choppy waters. 

But Middleton thought the sudden jump in pirate activity is due to a change in their strategy. 

"The weather is definitely a factor, but I don't think the main one," Middleton said. "It seems the pirates would be operating from a mother ship far out at sea away from the military presence, further out in the Indian Ocean where there is a freer environment for them to operate in." 

Somali pirates, armed with rocket propelled grenades and plying the seas in small, fast craft, have thrived in recent years in the chaos of a country with no working government and have collected tens of millions of dollars in ransom from shipping companies for the safe return of the their vessels and crews. 

The pirate attacks have surged in recent months, however, and gained global attention after pirates grabbed a ship loaded with Russian tanks, rocket propelled grenades and other assault-type weapons. 

That attack was followed by the seizure of a Saudi supertanker laden with millions of dollars worth of crude oil. 

Both ships were eventually freed after lengthy negotiations and air drops of ransoms that contained millions of dollars in cash. 

ABC News' Sean Duffy contributed to this report. 

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