Ex-Navy Seals found dead in cabin of container ship at centre of Captain Phillips movie
The bodies of the two American security workers were found in the Port of Victoria in the Seychelles
Two American security workers have been found dead on the Maersk Alabama, a ship made famous by the Hollywood movie "Captain Phillips" in 2013, an oil and shipping group said on Wednesday.
A.P. Moller-Maersk said in a statement that the two men were found dead in a cabin on board the vessel in the afternoon of February 18 in Port of Victoria in the Seychelles.
The Maersk Alabama was targeted by Somali pirates in an attempted hijacking off the east coast of Africa in 2009. The 2013 film "Captain Phillips" is based on the incident.
Maersk gave no details about how the two men, believed to be ex-Navy Seals, had died.
"The cause of the death for both men is part of the ongoing investigation, but it was not related to vessel operations or their duties as security personnel," its statement said.
Local law enforcement agencies were investigating the deaths on the Maersk Alabama, which berthed in Port of Victoria around midday on February 17. The security contractors had boarded the vessel on January 29, Maersk said.
Maersk Alabama is part of a U.S.-flagged fleet controlled by Maersk Line Limited, a unit in A.P. Moller-Maersk, which performs military, government and humanitarian missions by transporting cargo on its container, tanker and multi-purpose ships, according to the company's website.
Maersk's statement said Maersk Line Limited contracts vessel security services to Trident Group in accordance with U.S. Coast Guard security directives. Contracted security is part of anti-piracy protection plans to safeguard crews and vessels.
It said the Maersk Alabama is persistently in high-risk areas since it provides feeder service - calling at smaller ports to collect containers that are later loaded on bigger container vessels - to the east coast of Africa.
"Captain Phillips", directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi, is based on the attack on the Maersk Alabama in 2009, when Captain Richard Phillips was taken hostage by pirates led by Abduwali Muse in the Indian Ocean.
A police spokesman said: "Their bodies were found in a cabin by a colleague who went to check on (his friend) at around 4.30pm.
"They were part of a ship crew of 24 members who arrived in Port Victoria on Sunday, February 16, and were expecting to leave at 9pm last night.
"A post-mortem will be carried out this week in order to establish the cause of their sudden deaths while the police investigate the possible circumstances which lead to these incidents."
An official for the U.S. State Department said: "We can confirm that two deceased American citizens were found on the M/V Maersk Alabama, while moored in Seychelles.
"This incident is currently being investigated by the US Coast Guard."