Mombasa, Kenya ? Nineteen American sailors who escaped a pirate hijacking off the Horn of Africa reached safe harbor on Saturday, exhilarated by freedom but mourning the absence of the captain they hailed for sacrificing his freedom to save them.

With a throng of reporters shouting questions from shore, the crew of the Maersk Alabama described an ordeal that began with Somali pirates hauling themselves onto the deck from a small boat bobbing on the surface of the Indian Ocean far below.

“They came from the stern of the ship and came on with hooks and ropes and were firing in the air when they got on board,” said ATM Reza, a crew member who said he was the first to see the pirates board Wednesday.

As the pirates shot in the air, Capt. Richard Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin and surrendered himself to safeguard his men, crew members said. Phillips was still held hostage in an enclosed lifeboat Saturday by four pirates being closely watched by U.S. warships in an increasingly tense standoff. A Pentagon spokesman said negotiations were ongoing.

“He saved our lives!” second mate Ken Quinn, of Bradenton, Florida, declared from the ship as it docked in the resort and port city of Mombasa. “He’s a hero.”

Reza, a father of one from Hartford, Connecticut, said that he had led one of the pirates to the engine room, where he stabbed him in the hand with an ice pick and tied him up. Other sailors corroborated that story.

The crew did not elaborate Saturday but have told family members by phone that they took one pirate hostage before giving him up in the unfulfilled hope their captain would be released. Instead, the Somalis fled with Phillips to the lifeboat.

Some of the Alabama’s crew cheered and cracked jokes as they arrived in Mombasa; others peered warily over the edge of their 17,000-ton cargo ship.

With Navy Seals standing guard, one sailor told off the mass of journalists, saying: “Don’t disrespect these men like that. They’ve got a man out on a lifeboat dying so we can live.”

Crewman William Rios described the whole experience as a “nightmare” and said the first thing he will do back home in New York is pray. “I’m going to church,” he said, specifying St. John the Baptist Church in New York City.

Quinn told reporters the experience was “terrifying and exciting at the same time.” Asked what he thought of the pirates who seized the boat, Quinn said: “They’re just hungry.”

Maersk President John Reinhart said from Norfolk, Va., that the ship was still a crime scene and the crewmen could not leave until the FBI investigates the attack. He said crew members have been provided phones so they can stay in touch with family members.

“When I spoke to the crew, they won’t consider it done when they board a plane and come home,” Reinhart said. “They won’t consider it done until the captain is back, nor will we.”