The container ship Maersk Alabama has seen a lot of drama . It was attacked in 2009 by four armed Somali pirates , who took the ship 's captain , Richard Phillips , hostage on a lifeboat . That gripping tale came to Hollywood in the form of the 2013 film `` Captain Phillips . '' The ship survived another pirate attack in 2009 and yet another attempt to board the vessel in 2011 . And now : Two former Navy SEALs , hired as security officers on the 500-foot vessel , were found dead aboard . Seychelles police say the autopsy found the cause of death to be `` respiratory failure , with suspicion of myocardial infarction ( heart attack ) . '' The presence of a syringe and traces of heroin in the cabin have led to a suspicion of drug use , police said . More than a week after their bodies were discovered , many questions surround the deaths of Jeffrey Reynolds and Mark Kennedy , both 44 years old . Why did they die together ? How did the drugs and syringe get into their cabin ? What series of events contributed to their deaths ? Such questions are made more mysterious by friends , family and others who knew the men and told the New York Times that after their years in the military , they had readjusted well to civilian life . The night before their bodies were discovered , the men went to two bars , followed by two casinos , the New York Times reported , in Port of Victoria , Seychelles . New York Times reporter Ian Urbina told CNN 's Brooke Baldwin that according to staff where the men are said to have been on that night out , Reynolds and Kennedy were `` outgoing '' and `` having a great time '' and drank tequila shots and vodka with sailors from New Zealand . `` The two ( former ) Navy SEALs ended up closing that ( second ) casino and were politely asked to go at the end of the evening , '' Urbina said . Surveillance images indicate that they met two women in the hall in front of the second casino and `` walked down a dark corridor '' with them , Urbina said . A colleague who had gone to check in with one of the men in a cabin found them at 4:30 p.m. February 18 , Seychelles police said . `` It 's bizarre . Of course , it 's a shock . They 're all great guys , '' said Tom Rothrauff , president of Trident Group , a Virginia-based maritime security services firm that employed them . `` I 'm absolutely clueless as to what happened . '' Although substance abuse is a known problem among veterans , acquaintances of Reynolds ' and Kennedy 's told the New York Times they were shocked at the idea that either man had used heroin . `` The description of the two men from friends and family was in stark contrast to what sounded like a pretty hard partying night , '' Urbina said . A neighbor of Reynolds ' , Monika Connelly , told the Times that the Reynoldses did not drink alcohol . Another neighbor , Paul Bell , called them `` church people . '' Both Reynolds and Kennedy had children and `` seemed to be family men , '' Urbina said . Bodily fluid samples from the two men are being sent to Mauritius for further analysis `` to establish if they had consumed a substance which may have induced these events , '' Seychelles police said in a statement . Lt. Cmdr . Jamie Frederick , a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman , said the service was investigating the deaths , as required by American law . But he said the deaths `` do not appear to be criminal in nature , related to vessel operations , the material condition of the ship or their duties as security personnel . '' The ship arrived in the Seychelles on February 16 with a 24-man crew . It was expected to leave two days later . The Seychelles , an archipelago in the Indian Ocean , has one of the highest rates of injection drug use in the world , according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ( PDF ) , with 2.3 % of the population engaging in this behavior . Kevin N. Speers , a senior director for Maersk Line , said in a statement that the security contractors boarded the vessel January 29 and that their deaths were `` not related to vessel operations or their duties as security personnel . '' The Maersk Alabama is `` persistently in high-risk areas since she provides feeder service to the east coast of Africa , '' Speers said in a statement . `` Contracted security is part of anti-piracy protection plans to safeguard crews and vessels , '' Speers said . But according to The New York Times , Reynolds and Kennedy told friends that on the open sea , the real enemy is boredom . Autopsy : Men on Maersk had respiratory failure , suspected heart attacks .
Police surround deaths of former Navy personnel working as security officers . Their bodies were found in a cabin with syringe and traces of heroin . Police said cause of death was ` ` respiratory failure '' Bodily fluid samples will be obtained further .