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= Maersk Alabama Hijacking = The Maersk Alabama hijacking was an event in which four Somali pirates boarded the Maersk Alabama cargo ship in the Indian ocean on April 8, 2009. The Maersk Alabama cargo ship was 280 miles off of the coast of Somalia when it was invaded. The hijacking was the first successful invasion of a United States flagged ship in two centuries. The attack ended on April 9, 2009, when the U.S. Navy intercepted the vessel.

Crew
The Maersk Alabama was loaded with 17,000 metric tons of cargo, and carried a crew of 23. When the crew spotted the small boat off of the side of the ship, alarms sounded throughout the vessel and the crew retreated into the deck cargo control room. The small boat was outrun by the Maersk Alabama, and disappeared. The next morning, a boat that was larger than the first one was spotted headed towards the ship and captain Phillips thought it was a fishing boat. When the pirates boarded the ship, Chief Engineer Mike Perry ordered the crew into a safe room the crew had prepared for the event of an invasion. The crew hid while captain Phillips took the pirates around the ship and pretended to look for the crew. Once they could not find the crew, the pirates took captain Phillips hostage in a small life boat and left the ship.

Lawsuit
This event lead to the crew filing a lawsuit against Maersk for several reasons. One reason was the fact that Maersk sent the crew into dangerous waters completely unprotected. A second reason that the lawsuit was filed was because there was no form of defense on the ship, like guards or weaponry.

Rescue
In the morning of April 9th, 2009, a naval destroyer, the USS Bainbridge, and a frigate, the USS Halyburton, arrived near the Maersk Alabama. The navy tried to reason with the Somalian pirates, but the pirates tried to take captain Philips hostage and take him back to Somalia. When the seas became harsh, the pirates needed to return to the ship using a towline from the Bainbridge. On April 10th, the navy's SEAL Team Six parachuted into the waters near the ship, and boarded the Bairbridge. They then took position on the fantail at the stern of the ship. They set up their highly skilled snipers on the lifeboat where captain Phillips was held by three of the pirates. The SEAL Team assessed whether Phillips was safe or not, and when they determined he was in danger, they fired upon the pirates, killing the three that held him captive.

Aftermath
There were several things that happened to Maersk, the Maersk Alabama, and the Maersk crew, after the hijacking. One thing that happened was the creation of a movie. The movie titled Captain Phillips was released after the hijacking, starring Tom Hanks in the leading role as Captain Phillips. The second result was an increase in security on all Maersk cargo ships. The defense includes two arms guards stationed on every dilivery. The final result was the Lawsuit that was files on the Maersk company from the crew of the Maersk Alabama. The crew sued due to the danger they were put in and the fact that Maersk did nothing to prevent it. See Lawsuit for more info.