The crew of the Maersk Alabama arrived at a hotel in Kenya Tuesday morning and their captain, Richard Phillips, is safe on board a U.S. destroyer.
Still, Barack Obama is promising to not back down in the latest foreign policy challenge to his young presidency. "We have to ensure that those who commit acts of piracy are held accountable for their crimes."
Phillips, the 53-year-old mariner from Vermont, was freed on Sunday when Navy Seal sharp shooters killed the three armed Somali pirates who had held him hostage in a small life-boat off the coast of Africa. "These are very seasoned precision shooters," said former U.S. Navy Seal Dick Couch, "so this was a relatively short shot for them, at close range."
After five agonizing days, Andrea Phillips may be fighting laryngitis, but she is grateful she'll soon be reunited with her husband. "I just want to thank you for allowing us to come out here in front of you like this to make our statement as a family together."
The crew of the Maersk Alabama, which is now docked in Kenya, also celebrated their skipper's rescue with beer and a bar-b-q. But they also took time to call on the United States to take a stand against piracy. "America has to be at the forefront of this. It's a crisis. Wake up. This crew was lucky to be out of it with every one of us alive," said crew member Shane Murphy.
The death of three kidnappers has brought angry threats from Somali pirates to escalate their attacks on international shipping. In fact, there are reports another foreign freighter was hijacked just this morning.
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