A CREWMAN on a ship attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean has filed a lawsuit against his employers for knowingly sending him into danger.
Richard Hicks, of Florida, was chief steward on board the Maersk Alabama on 8 April when Somali pirates tried to take crew members hostage.
The American ship's captain, Richard Phillips, offered himself in place of the crew and was held for day
s in a lifeboat off the Somali coast. He was rescued by US navy Seals, who shot three pirates and arrested a fourth.
Yesterday, Mr Hicks, who says he still suffers from injuries as a result of the incident and is afraid to return to work, filed a lawsuit against Waterman Steamship Corporation and Maersk Line for knowingly sending him into pirate-infested waters near Somalia without adequate protection.
Terry Bryant, his lawyer, said: "Waterman Steamship Corporation and Maersk Line chose to rely on the United States military and taxpayers to provide after-the-fact rescue operations.
"This choice caused substantially more cost and risk to human life than what would have been incurred by defendants had they provided appropriate levels of security in the first place."
Mr Hicks has told of hearing over the loudspeakers that pirates were on board and of the crew gathering in the engine room for nearly 12 hours.
