Capt. Richard Phillips has been set free by Somali pirates, according to US Navy spokesman.
Richard Phillips, captain of a U.S. flagged, Danish-owned container ship, the Maersk Alabama,
had been in pirates hands for five days in a lifeboat in waters off the Horn of Africa after pirates raided his aid ship.
Three of the pirates holding him were reported to be killed in the operation.
The fourth one is now in US Military custody.
Capt Phillips is said to be unhurt and on the USS Bainbridge, a warship sent to track the pirates holding him.
He was taken hostage last Wednesday after pirates briefly hijacked his ship, the Maersk Alabama.
Captain's family was informed of his release several hours ago, media reports say.
For several days, Somali elders had been trying to resolve the standoff but the talks had failed, most recent reports suggested.
John Reinhart, Maersk Line Ltd President and CEO said in a news release that the U.S. government informed them around 1:30 p.m. EDT Sunday that Phillips had been released. He said the company called Phillips' wife Andrea, to inform her.
The U.S. officials were ordered not to discuss the matter publicly and they spoke on condition of anonymity. A Pentagon spokesman refused to add any comment.
When Phillips' crew heard the news aboard their ship in the port of Mombasa, they placed an American flag over the rail, on top of the Maersk Alabama, whistled and pumped their fists in the air. Crew fired a bright red flare into the sky from the ship.
Richard Phillips, the American captain held hostage by four Somali pirates made a desperate escape attempt Friday. He tried to swim to freedom but was recaptured after they fired shots, and officials said other pirates who were sailing nearby rushed to the scene in hijacked ships with other captives aboard to help their fellows.
A Somali facilitator in contact with a pirate leader said the captors are ready to kill the hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips, if attacked. According to him they want a ransom for the hostage.
France's navy freed a sailboat seized last week by Somali pirate but one of the hostages was killed along with two of the bandits. Three pirates were taken into custody, French Officials said. It was not made clear where the operation occurred but it did not seem to be near the standoff involving the U.S. captain.
The U.S. was reinforcing its position by dispatching other warships to the site, off the Horn of Africa, where a U.S. destroyer shadowed the drifting lifeboat carrying Capt. Phillips. He was taken hostage when the pirate failed to hijack the cargo ship Maersk Alabama on Wednesday.
Their strategy was to link up with their colleagues, who are holding German, Russian, Filipino and other hostages, and get Captain to lawless Somalia, where they could hide the hostage and make it difficult to launch a rescue, our Somali reporter said. That would give the pirates better posture and a stronger negotiating position to go into ransom discussion. Anchoring near shore also means they could escape to land quickly if attacked.
A Somali, who were involve in ransom negotiation last year with pirates after they seized a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks, spoke in anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said he has talked with one of the pirate leaders who helped coordinate the failed effort to seize the Alabama.
The man said the pirate leader had been directly in contact with the lifeboat via a satellite phone but lost contact after Capt. Phillips' captors threw the phone into the ocean, fearing the Americans were somehow using the equipment to give instructions to the captain. They acted after Phillips' failure to escape.
Phillips jumped off the lifeboat around midnight local time and began swimming, according to Defense Department officials
The pirates then fired an automatic weapon, the officials said, although it was not clear if the shots were fired at Phillips or into the air, and he returned to the lifeboat.
In fact, the USS Bainbridge, which is several hundred yards away, has rescue helicopters and lifeboats but is keeping its distance, in part to stay out of the pirates' range of fire.
The sailors on board were able to see Phillips moving around and talking after his return to the lifeboat, and the Defense Department officials think he is unharmed.
Negotiations had been going on between the pirates and the captain of the Bainbridge, who was getting direction from FBI hostage negotiators, the officials reported.
U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus said other U.S. warships also are headed to the area, more than 300 miles off Somalia's Indian Ocean coast.
He said: "We want to ensure that we have all the capability that might be needed over the course of the coming days".
President Barack Obama, who is getting regular updates on the standoff, refused to answer questions about it Friday for a second straight day.
A resident of the pirate stronghold in Eyl, Somalia Mohamed Samaw, said four foreign vessels held by pirates are moving toward the lifeboat. A total of 54 hostages are on two of the ships — citizens of Russia, Germany, China, Ukraine, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.
According to a Nairobi-based diplomat, who spoke on condition on anonymity for being not authorized to talk to the media "the pirates have summoned assistance — skiffs and mother ships are heading towards the area from the coast,"
Samaw said two ships left Eyl on Wednesday. A third sailed from Haradere, another pirate base in Somalia, and the fourth was a Taiwanese fishing vessel seized Monday that was already only 30 miles from the lifeboat.
He said those ships include the Hansa Stavanger a German cargo ship seized earlier this month. Its crew of 24 is made up of three Russians, five Germans, two Filipinos, two Ukrainians and 12 from Tuvalu.
A man identified as a pirate by three different residents of Haradhere also said the captured German ship had been sent there.
He added "They had asked us for reinforcement, and we have already sent a good number of well-equipped colleagues, who were holding a German cargo ship". He required only that his first name, Badow, be used to protect him from reprisals.
"We are not intending to harm the captain. So that we hope our colleagues would not be harmed as long as they hold him" Badow said. "All we need is a safe route to escape with the captain, and later negotiate a ransom."
"USS Bainbridge had arrived off the Horn of Africa near where the pirates were floating near the Maersk Alabama", reported Maersk's spokesman Kevin Speers. U.S. destroyer on Thursday reached the waters where Somali pirates held the American captain of the hijacked cargo ship. The Bainbridge was among several U.S. ships that had been patrolling in the region when the 17,000-ton U.S.-flagged cargo ship and its 20 crew were captured Wednesday. The unarmed sailors, in an hours-long drama, managed to capture a pirate and use him as a hostage to secure their own release, but the pirates took Capt. Richard Phillips with them as they escaped into a lifeboat. Wednesday was the first pirate attack on American sailors for around 200 years, although hundreds of sailors from other nations have been held hostage, sometimes for months. Captain Phillips' family were in his Vermont farmhouse, anxiously watching news reports and taking telephone calls from the U.S. State Department to know if he would be freed by the pirates. Gina Coggio, 29, half-sister of Phillips' wife, Andrea, told reporters: "We are on pins and needles, i know the crew has been in touch with their own family members, and we're hoping we'll hear from Richard soon." Phillips surrendered to the pirates to secure the safety of the crew, Coggio said. He added: "What I understand is that he offered himself as the hostage,". "That is what he would do. It's just who he is and his reaction as a captain." With one warship nearby and more on the way, piracy expert Roger Middleton from London-based think tank Chatham House said the pirates were facing difficult choices. According to Middleton: "The pirates are in a very, very tight corner, they've got only one guy, nowhere to hide him, they've got no way to defend themselves against the military who are on the way and they are hundreds of miles from Somalia."
Probably the pirates would try to get to a mothership, he said, one of the larger vessels that tow the pirates' speedboats out to sea and resupply them as they lie in wait for prey. They must also be aware that if they try to take Phillips to Somalia, they might be intercepted. And if they hand him over, they would definitely be arrested. And Middleyon to add: "If I was a pirate at this point, I think I would resign and take up gardening." This story is to be followed closely
U.S-flagged ship, hijacked by Somali pirates, is in control of American crew members. The crew after a clash on Wednesday were able to regain control of the vessel, but the ship's captain is is reported to be held hostage. According to U.S. officials, American warships are steaming toward the hijack scene. U.S. Navy officials told Wednesday afternoon that its closest ship was 300 miles away, which would place it 15 hours from the vessel. Maersk Alabama's captain is being held captive on board a lifeboat belonging to the ship, defense official said. Four pirates are in the lifeboat. According to the official there is no clear evidence that a pirate remains captive with the U.S. crew. Kevin Speers, a spokesman for Maersk Lines Limited said: "We are able to confirm that the crew of the Maersk Alabama is now in control of the ship,". "The armed hijackers who boarded this ship have departed earlier today , however they are currently holding one member of the ship's crew as a hostage. The other members of the crew are reported safe and no injuries have been declared." Speaking on the ship's satellite phone, one of the 20 crew members said they had been taken hostage but managed to seize one pirate and then successfully negotiate their own release. He said negotiations are under way for the captain's release. "All the crew members are trained in security detail in how to deal with piracy," Maersk CEO John Reinhart told reporters. "As merchant vessels we do not carry arms. We have ways to push back, but we do not carry arms." John Harris, CEO of HollowPoint Security Services, which specializes in maritime security, said that the crew's overtaking the pirates could help prevent future hijackings, especially since the military can't protect the entire high seas. "Any time you can get intel from them, they can give you any kind of significant information, they more than likely will not, but anything we can get will always help us in the future," Harris told FOX News. "Naval vessels ... can't be everywhere at one time, just like law enforcement," he said, noting that the U.S. Navy has been protecting the most vulnerable shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean.
