According to Maersk Line Ltd (MLL) the bodiesof the former Navy SEALS were found in a cabin on board the US-flag containershipTuesday afternoon while the vessel was docked in Port Victoria.
“The relevant authorities wereimmediately informed, and local law enforcement agencies have started aninvestigation,” it said in a prepared statement obtained by TradeWinds.
“The cause of the death for both men ispart of the ongoing investigation, but it was not related to vessel operationsor their duties as security personnel. The families of the deceased men havebeen notified, and our thoughts are with them.”
MLL confirmed that the duo was employedby Trident Group, the security firm that was contracted to safeguard the vesseland its crew while working a feeder service that sees the ship transit what theoperator described as “high risk areas” along the coast of East Africa.
Initially the companies did not releasethe names of the deceased but the duo have since been identified by theAssociated Press and other mainstream news outlets as JeffreyReynolds and Mark Kennedy. Both were both were 44-year-old American citizens.
The 1,068-teucontainership Maersk Alabama (built 1998) made headlines in 2009 when it washijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and later served as the centerpieceof ‘Captain Philips’, a Hollywood blockbuster starring Tom Hanks.
