The story

Pirates in ships are searching for the lifeboat containing four pirates and their hostage -- the captain of a freighter they failed to hijack earlier this week -- according to a U.S. military official with knowledge of the situation.

The pirates are using ships they have already hijacked and larger ships from which they are launching skiffs, the official said Friday.

One of the pirated ships is the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger, seized April 4 off the coast of Somalia. Read full article »

CNN's Mike Mount and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

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