HOUSTON -- Friends and family of two local men trapped on board a ship hijacked by pirates are waiting to hear the fate of their loved ones, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.

"I definitely knew who it was as soon as I heard the news this morning," said Jeremiah Taylor.

Taylor is a commercial mariner who knows one of the crew members aboard Maersk Alabama, an American ship headed to Kenya with relief supplies. The ship was hijacked by pirates off the east coast of Africa.

Two of the 20 crew members on board are from Houston and are members of the Maritime Officer's Union.

After the pirates got on board the Alabama, the crew radioed in that they had taken back control and were trying to recover a crew member from the life boat.

"Somali pirates have one of our crew members in our life boat," a crew member reported. "We are trying to recover that crew member."

Serena Murphy's husband, Shane, is Alabama's first mate. She was able to talk to him by telephone.

"He said, 'I just want you to know I'm OK and I love you,'" Serena Murphy said.

Taylor said Somali pirates strike often. The booty is usually big – they can hold a single ship ransom for $1 to $5 million.

Many ships are helpless when they're attacked.

"We're not actually trained to physically combat them (pirates)," Taylor said. "We can try to drop stuff on top of them before they actually get on board."