Navy Ship Delivers Phillips to Mombasa

MOMBASA, Kenya, April 16 -- With the rock anthem "Sweet Home Alabama" blaring from its speakers, the guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge delivered the rescued American captain of the Maersk Alabama, Richard Phillips, to this port city Thursday morning.

Phillips, who offered himself to Somali pirates threatening his ship and crew last week, was rescued when Navy SEALS shot his captors at sea.

Security at the port was routine for an American warship's arrival. Beforehand, military divers swept the waters around the berth, and as it docked, service members in flak jackets mounted a gun on the deck of the ship while others on land patrolled the area.

Sailors tied the ropes securing the ship and others raised the American flag, while a few dozen workers and reporters watched the ship's arrival. It was met by U.S. and Maersk officials.

About a dozen people, carrying suitcases and duffle bags, boarded the ship after it docked. Officials from the FBI and the Naval Criminial Investigative Service were expected to debrief Phillips on the ship. He is to return to the United States from here.

The Maersk Alabama crew members flew to Washington on Wednesday and met family and friends in an emotional homecoming early Thursday morning.

About an hour before the Bainbridge arrived, the Liberty Sun, another American ship that had been attacked by pirates, limped into port. The freighter's 20-member crew thwarted the attack Wednesday.

The pirates fired grenades and automatic weapons at the freighter, which sustained some damage, according to its operator, Liberty Maritime Corp. The pirates had departed by the time the Bainbridge arrived to help the crew.

The Sun's owner said after the attack that the ship had sustained damages, but no problems were visible from the dock Thursday. The ship was spewing black smoke and port security officials said it was having some engine troubles, but it was not clear whether that was a result of the attack.

The recent surge in Somali pirate attacks has raised concerns. Wednesday, the Obama administration called for expanding the international counterpiracy effort to deter Somali pirates, secure the release of hostage ships and crews, and freeze pirate assets, yet U.S. military officials said there are no immediate plans to devote more warships to the region.

"These pirates are criminals, they are armed gangs on the sea. And those plotting attacks must be stopped," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in announcing a four-point plan that includes assisting Somalis in "cracking down on pirate bases and decreasing incentives for young Somali men to engage in piracy."

It was not immediately clear whether the Liberty Sun was a target of opportunity for pirates or whether they were retaliating for the killings by U.S. Navy snipers of three pirates during the operation to rescue Phillips.