Breaking: Obama “Assessing Action” Over U.S. Hostages

Apr 8, 2009 35 Comments ›› Pat Dollard

WASHINGTON (AP) – A presidential spokesman says the White House is assessing a course of action to resolve the hijacking of a U.S.-flagged ship off the coast of Somalia.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that the White House was monitoring the incident closely. Said Gibbs: “Our top priority is the personal safety of the crew members on board.”

The White House offered no other immediate details about what actions it was considering.

Somali pirates on Wednesday hijacked the U.S.-flagged cargo ship with about 20 American crew members aboard, hundreds of miles from the nearest U.S. military vessel in some of the most dangerous waters in the world.

It was the first pirate attack against American citizens in recent memory.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP)—The U.S. government hurriedly sought answers to the first pirate attack against American citizens in recent memory—an American-flagged ship hijacked off the coast of Somalia.

A senior Navy official in Washington said Wednesday that the Obama administration was talking to the shipping company to learn “the who, what, why, where and when” of the incident in which the Maersk Alabama and a crew of some 20 people was seized by pirates.

This official refused to say what, if any, plans the U.S. had for trying to free the ship and its hostages. Officials said they didn’t know whether a ransom demand had been made by the pirates.

“Now we’re in the information gathering phase, really … sharing information with the company,” the Navy official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record while facts remained sketchy.

Reports coming into the Pentagon said carried varying estimates of the number of American crew members. Some said 21, others said 19. It was not immediately clear the nature of the ship’s cargo is, although one report said that it might be food aid.

Though the ship is the sixth seized within a week in the dangerous region around Africa, Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said it was the first pirate attack “involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory.”

A second Defense Department official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had no information on the number of pirates or any details of the attack.

But a third official, asked if there were any casualties during the hijacking, said United Kingdom maritime officials had been able to contact the vessel and were told “everyone is OK.”