Hero's welcome for daring captain

Yellow ribbons came to symbolise the captivity of Capt Phillips

US sea captain and former hostage Richard Phillips has returned home to a hero's welcome at Underhill, Vermont.

Flag-waving neighbours cheered his arrival at his farmhouse decorated with ribbons and "Welcome Home" balloons.

Earlier he thanked the US military for rescuing him from pirates, saying his rescuers were "superheroes".

As captain of the container ship the Maersk Alabama he offered himself as a prisoner when Somali pirates attacked, in return for them letting his crew go.

He was rescued after US Navy seals shot dead three of the pirates that were holding him captive on a lifeboat.

'Bit part'

Capt Phillips said the snipers "did the impossible" by saving him, adding that he was "not a hero".

"They're the superheroes," he said. "They're the titans.

"I am just a bit part in this story: I'm a small part, a seaman doing the best he can like all the other seamen out there."

Richard Phillips: 'I can't believe this, I'm not a hero'

He added that he was proud of his crew.

"We do the best with what we've got, and my crew did an excellent job," he said.

The 19-man crew arrived back in the US on Thursday. They have not yet been reunited with the captain.

Pirates operating off the coast of Somalia have intensified attacks on shipping in recent weeks in one of the world's busiest sea lanes, despite patrols by the US and other navies.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled a plan on Wednesday to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean off Somalia.