( CNN ) -- Traces of narcotics and hypodermic needles found with the bodies of two American security officers on the container ship Maersk Alabama suggested the deaths resulted from drug overdoses , a Seychelles government official has told CNN . Seychelles police identified the bodies found Tuesday as Jeffrey Reynolds and Mark Kennedy , both 44 . They worked for Trident Group , a Virginia-based maritime security services firm . Trident Group President Tom Rothrauff said both were former Navy SEALs . `` It 's bizarre . Of course , it 's a shock . They 're all great guys , '' Rothrauff said . `` I 'm absolutely clueless as to what happened . '' Police said an autopsy would be carried out early next week . But the Seychelles government official , who spoke on condition of not being identified , said Thursday that the presence of drug traces and paraphernalia `` would suggest that their deaths were a result of drug overdose . '' A Seychelles police statement said that despite media accounts of traces of drugs , authorities have not released any reports suggesting the deaths were the result of an overdose . The statement , however , did not deny that drugs were found or suggest an alternative cause of death . The 500-foot Maersk Alabama was the target of an attempted hijacking in the pirate-infested waters off East Africa in 2009 -- an incident that inspired the 2013 film `` Captain Phillips . '' The shipping giant Maersk , which hired the Trident Group to guard its ships , said Thursday that Trident would be conducting random drug tests of its employees . `` Based on our experience with the contractor , this is an isolated incident , '' Maersk said . But it said new drug tests would start immediately and the company 's shore-leave policy was under review . The Maersk Alabama has since left the Seychelles capital of Port Victoria , the company said Thursday . Police said the ship arrived Sunday in the Seychelles , an archipelago in the Indian Ocean , with a 24-man crew and had been expected to leave Tuesday . The bodies were found by a colleague who had gone to check in on one of the men in a cabin at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday , Seychelles police said . 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 . '' In April 2009 , four armed pirates attempted to hijack the Maersk Alabama 380 miles off Somalia . After the crew sank the pirates ' vessel and foiled their efforts to take control of the container ship , the pirates took the ship 's captain , Richard Phillips , hostage on a lifeboat . The incident ended three days later when Navy sharpshooters killed three of the pirates and captured the fourth . Phillips was unharmed . Pirates attacked the ship again later that year , but armed security personnel fought them off . In March 2011 , another attempt by pirates to board the ship was thwarted when security personnel fired warning shots . 2010 : Hero skipper ignored pirate warnings , crew says . 2009 : Crewman 's e-mail gives harrowing details of hijacking .
Maersk , security contractor launch drug testing plan after deaths . Needles , traces of narcotics found with dead contractors , Seychelles official says . Two American security contractors were former Navy SEALs , executive says . Comment: