PHARSALIA – While the world was watching with rapt attention during the recent standoff between a U.S. Navy warship and Somali pirates off the East African coast, one local man had a front row seat.
Stationed aboard the USS Bainbridge, Seaman Eric Brown witnessed the events unfold first hand. The 20 year old Pharsalia-native, who graduated from Otselic Valley High School in 2006, serves as a sonar operator on the guided missile destroyer; which is part of a multi-national maritime force tasked with safeguarding international shipping in and around the Gulf of Aden.
According to Brown, the USS Bainbridge had only recently arrived in the region when pirates attempted to hijack the Maersk Alabama on April 8, approximately 350 miles off the Somali coast. The incident resulted in the ship’s captain, Richard Phillips, being taken hostage. The U.S. Naval vessel arrived on the scene less than 24 hours later.
For four days, Phillips was held captive aboard a lifeboat while U.S. forces attempted to negotiate his release.
“Everyone was exhausted,” Brown said, describing the tension felt by those on board the destroyer while they sat waiting for something to happen.
The standoff finally came to an end in the wee hours of Sunday, April 12 when the commander of the USS Bainbridge gave the go-ahead for U.S. Navy SEALs to take the steps necessary to rescue Phillips.
“Once they got the job done, we were relieved,” the seaman said.
When Phillips was brought on board the USS Bainbridge in the aftermath of his ordeal, Brown was assigned to see to the captain’s needs and bring his meals. During that time, the young sailor had the opportunity to get to know the man who had traded his own freedom for the release of his crew.
“He is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met,” said Brown, who said he was impressed by Phillips’ bravery.
The two talked about the men who had taken the captain hostage, Brown reported. The pirates told Phillips they were “good pirates,” he said, and that the money they made in ransoms went back to their villages.
Despite the recent attention it has received, piracy off the Somali coast is nothing new. It began in the 1990’s after civil war broke out in the East African nation. According to Kenyan officials, pirates raked in a reported $150 million in ransoms between November 2007 and November 2008.
According to Brown, the pirates are getting braver and bolder. They are using some of the ransom money to acquire better weapons, he explained. They are also targeting ships further off shore by using “mother ships” to tow smaller vessels into major shipping lanes outside of the Gulf of Aden.
The USS Bainbridge is one of more than a dozen ships currently patrolling the region as part of the Combined Taskforce 151. Brown said a German naval ship was in close proximity to the destroyer during the Maersk Alabama incident, and he is aware of French, Indian, Chinese and Russian vessels in the region as well.
Just two days after Phillips was rescued, with the Maersk Alabama captain still on board, the USS Bainbridge had another near run-in with pirates. This time, they were attempting to hijack the MV Liberty Sun, an aid ship carrying 20 American crew members.
“We scared them away,” Brown reported. After the pirates fled, the Bainbridge escorted the cargo ship into port in Mombasa, Kenya.
According to the seaman, the USS Bainbridge will be deployed in the region until the end of the summer. He said he definitely expects to have more interactions with pirates in the region.
“I think it’s going to be a long summer,” Brown said.
Back on his family’s dairy farm in North Pharsalia, Brown’s family has been closely watching events in the region. His father Dean said they spent a lot of time watching the news during the hostage standoff.
“It was awhile before he finally called us,” Dean Brown said. “It worried us half to death.” The family didn’t breathe easier until the young sailor was able to place a call home on April 15.