In April 2009, Somali pirates hijacked the Maersk vessel "Alabama" and took the ship's captain and crew hostage. A Mission Essential interpreter assisted negotiation with the pirates during the crisis, alongside a Navy SEAL team. The linguist earned the pirates' trust, and after four days of negotiations, convinced the pirates to allow their boat to be towed behind the USS "Bainbridge", until U.S. snipers killed three of the pirates and captured a fourth, Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, rescuing the hostages and ending the crisis.