Washington/Nairobi - A hijacked lifeboat with the captain of a US cargo ship held hostage was nearing the Somali shore Saturday after talks with the pirates collapsed and they fired on a US Navy vessel. The developments escalated concern for the fate of captain Richard Phillips, the US captain of the Maersk Alabama who has been held by the pirates off the Horn of Africa since Wednesday

Somali pirates obtained fuel for their hijacked lifeboat and were moving within 35 kilometres of Somalia's shore late Saturday with Phillips on board, ABC news and CNN reported.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Major Stewart Upton told. (dpa)