Boston (AP/WBZ Newsroom) -- A_Grad_Rochford.jpg" />A sea captain from Rhode Island assured his family that he knew how to handle a pirate attack before his vessel was targeted off the African coast.
Capt. Paul Rochford's (right, 1979 photo) vessel, the Maersk Alabama, was attacked by pirates Wednesday for the second time in seven months.
Private guards on the U.S.-flagged ship thwarted the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.
The captain's sister, Amy Rochford, says her brother grew up blocks from Barrington's town beach and has spent his life at sea. He was on a two-week leave when pirates hijacked the Alabama earlier this year.
Amy Rochford says her brother assured his family it wouldn't happen again. If it did, the 52-year-old captain said he knew what to do.
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Meantime, the former captain of the Maersk Alabama has nothing to say about the second pirate attack in seven months on his former ship. Richard Phillips (left) of Underhill, Vermont is referring questions about the attackto Maersk Lines Limited.
Phillips was held by pirates for several days in April before being rescued when U.S. Navy sharpshooters killed three of the pirates and arrested a fourth.
Phillips said recently he is contemplating retiring from his job as a ship captain.
On Wednesday, Phillips declined comment about the latest incident. He says, "I'm not involved in it this time, so I don't want to speculate on things I don't know."
A Massachusetts Maritime Academy professor whose son was on the Maersk Alabama when it was attacked last spring says he's not surprised Somali pirates tried again.
Joseph Murphy said Wednesday pirates are out in force off east Africa since the main storm season has passed and most commercial vessels in the area are still unarmed.
On Wednesday, a security detail on the Maersk Alabama fought off what Murphy calls a "scourge." Murphy says pirates won't attack vessels that fight back.
Murphy's son, Shane, was second-in-command on the ship during the April incident.
Phillips and Rochford are Mass Maritime graduates.
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