U.S. federal prosecutors have asked a judge in New York City to sentence a Somali pirate to nearly 34 years in prison for an attack on a US-flagged ship off the coast of Africa.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that Abdiwali Abdigadir Muse led attacks on ships in the Indian Ocean for more than a month in 2009.

Sole survivor: Abdiwali Abdigadir Muse is accused of hijacking the Maersk Alabama and taking its captain Richard Phillips hostage. Prosecutors have asked for a 34-year jail term

Muse was captured in the failed hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. He was among the pirates who held captain Richard Phillips hostage for days before Navy sharpshooters killed his accomplices.

Under attack: The 17,000-ton container ship Maersk Alabama was hijacked by Somalia pirates while sailing from Salalah in Oman to the Kenyan port of Mombassa via Djibouti Muse's lawyers have asked the judge to be lenient. They say he never intended to hurt anyone.

Sentencing is scheduled for next week.