‘Captain Phillips’ ship deaths: Ex-Navy Seal, security officer ID’d

The Maersk Alabama, featured in the movie “Captain Phillips,” has left the Seychelles after authorities completed the investigation into the deaths of two Americans, one of whom was a former Navy SEAL.

On Tuesday, two Americans were found dead in a cabin on the ship, berthed in Port of Victoria in the island nation of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Neither officials nor the company have said what happened.

“Maersk Alabama was cleared to leave the Seychelles when the authorities completed their onboard investigation,” company spokesman Kevin N. Speers said in an e-mailed statement. “She is now underway. We do not have any other information about the investigation, including the autopsy report.”

The ship is resuming its duties and is heading to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Speers said by telephone.

The two Americans are security contractors who joined the ship at the end of January. Both were employed by Trident Security, founded by former SEALs.

Maersk Line Ltd., the Norfolk, Va., parent company of the ship, said that the deaths are under investigation but are “not related to vessel operations or their duties as security personnel.”

The Navy identified one of the dead as a former SEAL, the Associated Press first reported.

Mark Daniel Kennedy, 43, of Baton Rouge, La., enlisted in 1995 and completed his final tour of duty in 2008, according to his record, sent in an email by a Navy spokeswoman, Lt. Lauryn Dempsey. The SEALs are an elite unit of the military’s special operations forces. Kennedy served as a special operator first class, his record says.

The other dead officer was identified by police in Africa as Jeffrey Reynolds, 44.

The Maersk Alabama was targeted by Somali pirates in an attempted hijacking off the east coast of Africa in 2009. The 2013 film “Captain Phillips” is based on the incident.

The ship was the scene of a tense standoff for five days until Navy SEALs from the U.S. guided-missile destroyer Bainbridge boarded the captured vessel and killed three pirates who were holding Capt. Richard Phillips in a lifeboat.

The Alabama transports food aid to East Africa as part of the U.S. government’s Food for Peace program, according to the company.

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