11/29/2023 0 Comments Captain phillips pirateThe Navy killed all but one of the four pirates involved. Navy’s successful rescue effort that followed were the true life inspiration for the Academy Award-nominated feature film “Captain Phillips,” starring Tom Hanks. The Maersk Alabama hijacking and the U.S. It was the first successful pirate seizure of a ship registered under the American flag since the early 19th century. In 2009, the MV Maersk Alabama, a United States vessel, was hijacked in international waters by four Somali pirates hundreds of miles off the coast of Africa. Sounds like a sensational movie plot, doesn’t it? It is…especially since it really happened. The crimes depicted in Captain Phillips were based on real-life events. They demand millions in ransom and threaten to kill everyone on board. Foreign gunmen fire automatic weapons at you as they commandeer the vessel, taking you and your crew members hostage. Suddenly, on the horizon, you spot two skiffs rapidly approaching your ship. Imagine yourself as the captain of a commercial cargo ship, transporting emergency food aid to starving Africans across international waters. The film, which opens in the UK on Friday, has been tipped to give Hanks a tilt at Oscars glory next March.Piracy on the High Seas: True Crimes Depicted in “Captain Phillips” "Because he went through that area, and the company is sending him e-mails, and I know he saw that chart 50 times."Ĭaptain Phillips debuted strongly this weekend at the US box office and opened the London film festival last week, as well as screening at the New York film festival. Perry told the Post he agreed with theories that his captain wanted to be taken captive, and may even have had a death wish. At one point he attacked the chief pirate, seizing him and using him as a bargaining chip for the return of Phillips. "I don't know."Īnother crew member, chief engineer Mike Perry, is reputed to have been the real hero of the ordeal, despite having only a small presence in Greengrass's film. "I couldn't tell you exactly the miles," Phillips told the Post. Phillips' real-life crew member says his captain was just 235 miles off the coast, though Phillips says he was 300 miles off. "It is just horrendous, and they're angry."Īccording to the Post's report, ships in the area were warned to stay at least 600 miles off the Somali coast because 16 container ships had been attacked by pirates during the prior three weeks in the same region. "It is galling for them to see Captain Phillips set up as a hero," she added. He told them he wouldn't let pirates scare him or force him to sail away from the coast. ![]() ![]() The sailors' lawyer, Deborah Waters, told the Post: "The crew had begged Captain Phillips not to go so close to the Somali coast. Phillips has denied being aware of such a plan. "He didn't want anything to do with it, because it wasn't his plan," said the crew member. The crew member said Phillips, who went on to meet Barack Obama and write a memoir, refused to cut power and lock himself and the crew below deck in line with anti-pirate protocol. "No one wants to sail with him," he told the Post. "Phillips wasn't the big leader like he is in the movie," said one crew member who worked closely with the captain, speaking anonymously for legal reasons. The sailors, who are suing their employers Maersk Line and the Waterman Steamship Corp for $50m, said Richard Phillips was a sullen, self-righteous man: their suit claims the captain's wilful disregard for his crew's safety contributed to the attack. Crew members of the Maersk Alabama, which suffered the raid off the coast of lawless Somalia in April 2009, told the New York Post the titular hero played by Tom Hanks in Paul Greengrass's critically acclaimed film was far from heroic.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |