Pirates indirectly prevent rescued captain and his crew from reuniting

The crew of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship Maersk Alabama was hoping Wednesday to reunite with the captain it heralds as a hero. But after spending a day in the port city of Mombasa, relaxing at a seaside resort, downing beers and swimming in the Indian Ocean, the crew members flew home without their skipper.

Once again, it was pirates who spoiled their plans.

The Bainbridge, the U.S. Navy destroyer carrying Capt. Richard Phillips after helping to rescue him from pirates Sunday, was diverted on the way to Kenya on Tuesday evening after another U.S.-flagged ship came under fire from automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades off Somalia.

The crew of the Liberty Sun, owned by shipping company Liberty Maritime Corp. of Lake Success, N.Y., hunkered down and withstood the attack. None of the crew members, including 20 U.S. citizens, were injured, though the ship received minor damage, the company said.

Like Phillips’ ship, the Liberty Sun was carrying food aid to Africa.

The Bainbridge, which according to a Maersk representative was still towing the orange lifeboat in which Phillips was held captive for five days, responded to a distress call from the Liberty Sun but arrived after the attack. The freighter and the warship were expected to dock in Mombasa by this morning.

The Bainbridge is believed to still be carrying a pirate captured Sunday when U.S. snipers killed three of his companions, who were holding Phillips at gunpoint on the lifeboat. The U.S. Justice Department is debating whether to bring the man to the U.S. or turn him over to another country, such as Kenya, for prosecution.

Phillips, whom crew members have credited with their escape from the pirates, was expected to fly home to Vermont after being debriefed by the FBI. U.S. agents will confiscate the lifeboat as evidence.

It remained unclear whether the Liberty Sun attack was coincidental or in retaliation for the rescue operation.

Pirates have vowed in recent days to avenge the killings, and experts say the gangs are often equipped with navigational devices and maritime databases that would enable them to identify the nationality of a ship’s owner and crew.

“Whether they are targeting American ships now, we don’t know,” said Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet.

He said the Liberty Sun was able to avoid capture by using “evasive maneuvers,” but he said he did not know what specific actions the crew took.

Also Wednesday, the French navy said it had captured a pirate “mother ship” in the region and arrested 11 pirates after responding to a distress call from a commercial vessel.

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edmund.sanders@latimes.com