From the American destroyer Kidd a booming voice issued commands to the Iranian dhow Al Mulahi:
If you have weapons aboard, the voice boomed, put them where we can see them, on the roof of your wheelhouse.
The American commands were issued in Urdu, the language of Pakistanis and Indian Muslims, because that is what the “Iranian” crew spoke — but their Somali hijackers did not speak Urdu:
For a moment, the captors depended on their captives. They asked their Iranian hostages what the American sailors had just said.
One of the hostages, Khaled Abdulkhaled, answered without pause: “They said they are about to blow this ship up.”
The pirates panicked. Their unity broke down. Each man hoped, variously, to surrender, find cover or hide. Discarding their weapons, nine of them crammed into a small hold beneath the wheelhouse. Six more huddled near the open bow.
Soon, armed American sailors climbed aboard. They spotted the six Somalis on the bow, who did not resist. As more of the boarding team swarmed over the side, the Iranian hostages pointed to where the remaining pirates were hiding. The sailors pulled those men out, one by one, into the light and forced them face down onto the deck.
Al Mulahi was secured. The Iranian hostages had been saved without a shot being fired.