A cargo ship captain held hostage by pirates wants better protection for commercial shipping on the high seas.

Capt. Richard Phillips is testifying on Capitol Hill Thursday, just weeks after pirates abducted him and tried to hijack his ship off the African coast.

Phillips says arming the shipping crews isn't enough protection against pirate attacks. He's calling for an armed officer corps backed by government, and operating under a clear chain of command.

But Phillips' view hardly represents a consensus. The head of his own shipping company, Maersk, tells the same Senate panel that arming merchant sailors could trigger an arms race with the pirates.

Congress is considering ways to combat an increase in pirate attacks. Numbers show such attacks nearly doubled last year. Even now, about 300 hostages remain captive in Somalia after their vessels were hijacked by pirates.