Captured American, Capt. Richard Phillips, tries to escape from Somali pirates

Capt. Richard Phillips, who has been held captive by Somali pirates since Wednesday apparently tried to make a get away today, reportedly jumping out of the lifeboat into the ocean before being recaptured.

It is likely that Phillips was hoping that he would be able to jump overboard and make it to the safety of one of the American war ships that have been keeping watch over the situation.  It has been a pretty tense situation since the failed attempt on Wednesday by the pirates to capture the Maersk Alabama and apparently there have been some additional Somalian pirate ships approaching the lifeboat to help out their countrymen.

At the moment, the Navy has two large vessels in the area, and will try to keep any additional pirate ships from approaching the lifeboat in an attempt to help the pirates escape or even just to help re-supply the pirates in the lifeboat. The Navy hopes that their negotiation position is going to get stronger as supplies start to run out on the lifeboat.

Officials stated that they saw Capt. Phillips on the lifeboat after the escape attempt and that he did appear to be unharmed.

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