The crew of the Maersk Alabama, the U.S. ship that was beset by Somali pirates last week, is back in the U.S.; they landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland at one this morning. As you can see, this means that movie star and first mate Sean Murphy is back in the arms of his first mate (sorry), which is touching. More details have emerged about the crew’s ordeal, but what we’re really curious about is the one pirate who asked to come aboard the big ship after hurting his hand. We hope a Today show appearance is imminent.
Meanwhile, Captain Richard Phillips is flying back to the U.S. sometime today. Earlier today, he arrived in Mombasa by way of the USS Bainbridge, the Naval ship that rescued him. The Times awesomely reports that the destroyer docked in Kenya to the strains of “Sweet Home Alabama,” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. This is great, but we can think of a song that would have been even more appropriate.
Captain of Ship Seized by Pirates Reaches Dry Land [NYT]
Home Sweet Home [NYP]
On the Maersk: ‘I Hope if I Die, I Die a Brave Person’ [WSJ]
