MOMBASA, Kenya, April 15, SPA -- A cargo ship loaded withhumanitarian aid was headed to Kenya under U.S. Navy escortWednesday after evading pirates firing grenades andautomatic weapons, the second unsuccessful hijackingattempt of an American freighter in a week, officials said. The Liberty Sun's American crew was not injured in theattack but the vessel sustained unspecified damage, ownerLiberty Maritime Corp. said in a statement Tuesday night quoted by Associated Press. «We are under attack by pirates, we are being hit byrockets. Also bullets,» crewman Thomas Urbik, 26, wrotehis mother in an e-mail Tuesday. «We are barricaded in theengine room and so far no one is hurt. (A) rocketpenetrated the bulkhead but the hole is small. Small fire,too, but put out.» The Liberty Sun «conducted evasive maneuvers» to wardoff the pirates before help arrived, said U.S. Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5thFleet. «That could be anything from zigzagging to speeding up toall kinds of things,» he said. «We've seen in the pastthat that can be very effective in deterring a pirateattack.» A U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Bainbridge, responded tothe attack but the pirates had departed by the time itarrived some five hours later, Navy Capt. Jack Hanzliksaid. After arriving on the scene, the Bainbridge sent «a smallsecurity detachment» onboard the Liberty Sun to ensurethat its crew of about 20 mariners was safe, Christensensaid. Urbik sent a follow-up e-mail to his mother «thatsaid he was safe and they had a naval escort taking themin,» Katy Urbik said.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/654777