A stand-off was continuing on Thursday between a US navy destroyer and pirates holding a US-flagged ship’s captain hostage, amid signs other pirate-held ships were being moved towards the area.

The USS Bainbridge arrived at the scene on Thursday morning to monitor events aboard the pirate-held lifeboat, containing four pirates and Richard Philips, captain of the Maersk Alabama, the first US-flagged ship to be seized by Somali pirates. The lifeboat ran out of fuel shortly after the pirates left the Maersk Alabama with it on Wednesday following a struggle with the vessel’s 20-strong crew of US citizens.