Alabama Trial Over Somali Pirate Attack on Maersk Cargo Ship Delayed

A judge has delayed the trial over a lawsuit filed after Somali pirates took over a U.S. cargo ship in 2009.

Crew members are suing Maersk Line Ltd. and the Mobile-based Waterman Steamship Corp. over the pirate attack that was dramatized in the recent movie “Captain Phillips,” starring Tom Hanks.

The lawsuit filed by crew members from the Maersk Alabama was set to go to court Monday in Alabama.

But court officials said the lawsuit is now headed to mediation and could end without a full-blown trial before jurors.

The lawsuit contends the ship was sailing too close to the Somalian coast when pirates boarded and took it over on April 8, 2009.

Maersk denies the claims. Court documents show Waterman had chartered the ship from Maersk.

Topics Trucking Alabama