On April 8, 2009, Muse and three other Somali pirates boarded the MV Maersk Alabama , a U.S.-flagged cargo ship carrying food aid to Kenya. When the crew fought back, the pirates fled to a lifeboat with Captain Richard Phillips as their hostage. The standoff ended four days later when U.S. Navy SEAL snipers killed the other three pirates, and Muse was taken into custody.
His case raised a major legal question: Could he be tried for piracy even though the attack happened in international waters and he was a Somali national? U.S. courts said yes, citing the universal jurisdiction principle that allows any nation to prosecute pirates. abduwali muse hoje
You may not recognize his name, but Abduwali Muse Hoje was at the center of one of the most dramatic maritime incidents of the early 21st century. He is best known as the sole surviving pirate captured during the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking—an event later dramatized in the film Captain Phillips . On April 8, 2009, Muse and three other
In 2011, Muse pleaded guilty to several charges, including hijacking maritime vessels and kidnapping. He was sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in federal prison. Navy SEAL snipers killed the other three pirates,