NY co.'s ship safe in Kenya after pirate attack
MV Liberty Sun enters the harbor of Mombasa, Kenya Thursday, April 16, 2009. U.S. Navy SEALs, waiting at the back of the USS Bainbridge, killed three pirates holding the captain of MV Maersk Alabama, Richard Phillips, on Sunday. The Bainbridge prevented pirates hijacking the MV Liberty Sun on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
NEW YORK - An American cargo ship damaged by Somali pirates while carrying humanitarian supplies has arrived safely in a Kenyan port under U.S. Navy escort.
The Liberty Maritime Corp. says the Liberty Sun and its 20-member crew reached Mombasa on Wednesday evening.
The Lake Success, N.Y.-based company says pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the ship Tuesday as it carried corn meal, wheat flower and other food for needy African nations. A crew member told his mother by e-mail a rocket pierced the ship's bulkhead and the attack sparked a small fire.
The military says the pirates left before a destroyer arrived. No one was hurt.
The ship left from Houston. It delivered aid in Sudan before heading for Kenya.
A service of the Associated Press(AP)