An American crew has seized back control of a container ship that was commandeered by pirates in the Indian Ocean today, according to the Pentagon.

The military official said the crew was holding one pirate in custody while the others were reported to "be in the water". The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, would not confirm how the Somalis found their way into the ocean.

Somali pirates hijacked the US-flagged container ship off the Horn of Africa, the first such attack on American interests.

John Reinhart, the CEO of Maersk, which owned the vessel, said the company was working to contact families of the crew. "Speculation is a dangerous thing when you're in a fluid environment. I will not confirm that the crew has overtaken this ship," he said.


All 20 American crew members aboard the Maersk Alabama were believed to be unharmed, according to Andrew Mwangura, who monitors piracy for the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme.

The ship was travelling to the Kenyan port of Mombasa and her cargo includes 232 containers of relief food destined for United Nations feeding programmes in Somalia and Uganda.

She was snatched after a sustained assault involving several pirate skiffs about 400 nautical miles east of Mogadishu. The attack lasted five hours as the ship tried unsuccessfully to evade the assault.

American officials said their first priority was the safety of the crew.