Maersk Alabama crew member files suit

HOUSTON, April 27 (UPI) -- A cook from the Maersk Alabama, the U.S.-flagged cargo ship boarded by pirates this month, is suing the ship's owners for at least $75,000, his attorney says.

Richard Hicks of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., filed suit Monday in a Harris County court in Houston against Waterman Steamship Corp. and Maersk Line Ltd. of Mobile, Ala., alleging the companies knowingly sent him into the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden near Somalia without adequate protection.

Somali pirates attempted to commandeer the Maersk Alabama April 8. Hicks and other crew members went to the engine/steering room where they waited out the pirates for nearly 12 hours.

"The engine room was dark and hot, maybe 130 degrees," Hicks, the chief steward, said in a statement Monday. "We were all cramping up with heat stroke symptoms when we were able to take a pirate hostage and tried to negotiate the return of our captain."

Hicks said the pirates promised to exchange Capt. Richard Phillips for the pirate hostage but instead escaped with Phillips, who was later rescued.

Hicks says he still suffers pain and suffering, and is afraid to return to work as a chief steward, and so is seeking damages from the ship's owner.