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Maritime President: Time's Running Out For Pirates

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Apr 10, 2009 5:09 pm US/Eastern

Maritime President: Time's Running Out For Pirates

 CBS News Interactive: About Somalia

  Modern Tales Of Pirate Attacks
Reporting
Ron Sanders
BOURNE (WBZ) ― Massachusetts Maritime Academy classmates and friends of Capt. Richard Phillips are keeping a close watch on the escalating piracy drama in which an academy graduate is being held hostage off the coast of Somalia and another is steaming for port in Kenya.

Rear Admiral Richard Gurnon, President of Mass Maritime, described the lifeboat in which Phillips is being held as he sat in a similar one on the campus.

"It's hot. It's uncomfortable. These bob like a cork. They don't ride very well. He has 4 pirates with him. It's the Indian Ocean. It's 100 degrees."

Admiral Gurnon says the pirates are in a tight spot with limited provisions.

"Time's not on their side. There's no place to sleep. There's no place to eat."
 
Capt. Phillips has been held captive in the lifeboat for the past two days since he traded his safety for that of his 19 crew members aboard the Maersk Alabama, includingShane Murphy, a 2001 Mass Maritime graduate whose father, Capt. Joseph Murphy teaches an anti-piracy course there.
 
Shane Murphy is now in command of the cargo ship on its way to Mombasa.

Capt. Jim Staples of Norwell was in the Mass Maritime class of '79 with Capt. Phillips.

"I think they should do whatever it takes to get Richie home safe," he says.

Staples reads Phillips' escape attempt as a good sign.

"It just shows that Richie's still thinking. He wants to get out of that situation. He won't stop. He hasn't given up. And he won't give up."

And if Staples could give his fellow captain a message, "Keep smiling, Rich. Stay strong."

Praising Phillips's selfless actions, Staples said there's no word in the dictionary for him.

WBZ's Ron Sanders suggested "captain."

Staples called his friend, the "ultimate captain."

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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