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Richard Phillips (merchant mariner) Captain Richard Phillips is a US merchant
mariner and author, who served as captain of the MV Maersk Alabama during its hijacking
by Somali pirates in April 2009. Early life
Captain Richard Phillips was born in Winchester, Massachusetts; and graduated from Winchester
High School in 1973. Phillips enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and
planned to study international law, but later transferred to the Massachusetts Maritime
Academy, where he graduated in 1979. During his schooling, Phillips worked as a cab driver
in Boston. Phillips married Andrea Coggio, a nurse, in 1987, and they have two children,
Daniel and Mariah. Maersk Alabama hijacking
On April 7, 2009, the U.S. Maritime Administration, following NATO advisories, released a Somalia
Gulf of Aden "advisory to mariners" recommending ships to stay at least 600 nautical miles
(1,100 km; 690 mi) off Somalia's coast. With these advisories well in effect, on April
8, 2009, four Somali pirates boarded the Maersk Alabama when it was located 240 nmi (440 km)
southeast of the Somalian port city of Eyl. With a crew of 20, the ship was en route to
Mombasa, Kenya. The ship was carrying 17,000 metric tons of cargo, of which 5,000 metric
tons were relief supplies bound for Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda. "In that area of the
world, any blip on your radar is of concern," says the 57-year-old mariner, "I always told
my crew it was a matter of when, not if." According to Chief Engineer Mike Perry, the
crew sank the pirate speedboat shortly after the boarding by continuously swinging the
rudder of the Maersk Alabama, thus scuttling the smaller boat. As the pirates were boarding
the ship, the crew members locked themselves in the engine room. The crew later overpowered
one of the pirates. The crew attempted to exchange the captured pirate, whom they had
kept tied up for twelve hours, for Phillips. According to a crew member, Phillips and the
pirates got into a man-overboard boat, but it would not start, so the crew dropped a
lifeboat and met the pirates to switch prisoners and boats. The captured pirate was released,
but the pirates refused to release Phillips. The pirates left with Phillips in the lifeboat
which carried ten days of food rations, water and basic survival supplies.
On April 8, the destroyer USS Bainbridge and the frigate USS Halyburton were dispatched
to the Gulf of Aden in response to the hostage situation, and reached Maersk Alabama early
on April 9. Maersk Alabama then departed from the area with an armed escort, towards its
original destination of the port of Mombasa. On Saturday, April 11, Maersk Alabama arrived
in Mombasa, still under U.S. military escort. Captain Larry Aasheim then assumed command.
Aasheim had previously been captain of the Maersk Alabama until Richard Phillips relieved
him eight days prior to the pirate attack. An 18-man marine security team was on board.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation secured the ship as a crime scene.
On April 9, a standoff began between the Bainbridge and the pirates in the Maersk Alabama's lifeboat,
where they continued to hold Phillips hostage. Three days later, on Sunday, April 12, U.S.
Navy marksmen from DEVGRU (formerly known as Seal Team Six) opened fire and killed the
three pirates on the lifeboat, and Phillips was rescued in good condition. The Bainbridge
captain Commander Frank Castellano ordered the action after determining that Phillips'
life was in immediate danger, based on reports that a pirate was pointing an AK-47 automatic
rifle at his back. Navy SEAL snipers on Bainbridge's fantail opened fire, killing the three pirates
with bullets to the head; one of the pirates was named Ali Aden Elmi, another's last name
was Hamac, and the third remains unidentified. A fourth pirate, Abduwali Muse, aboard the
Bainbridge and negotiating for Phillips' release while being treated for an injury sustained
in the takeover of Maersk Alabama, surrendered and was taken into custody. Muse's parents
asked that he be pardoned because he was either 16 or 17 years old at the time of the incident,
but at court it was ruled that he was not a juvenile and would be tried as an adult.
He later pleaded guilty to piracy charges and was sentenced to over 33 years in prison.
Post-rescue Following the hijacking, Phillips published
a book titled A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea. Columbia
Pictures optioned the book and acquired the film rights in spring 2009. In March 2011,
it was announced that Tom Hanks would star as Phillips, Barkhad Abdi as Abduwali Muse
and Faysal Ahmed as Najee in a Sony Pictures film based on the hijacking and Phillips'
book, scripted by Billy Ray, and produced by the team behind The Social Network. The
film, entitled Captain Phillips, was released on October 11, 2013 and had its premiere showing
at the 2013 New York Film Festival. In an interview with Phillips on the set of Captain
Phillips for New York Daily News, Phillips describes his devotion to his crew, his feeling
of success as a captain and his eagerness to get back to sea. "My crew were now safe,
because the pirates lost their ladder and boat when they boarded the Maersk Alabama,
so they couldn't get back onboard," says Phillips. "For me it was really a relief—my crew and
ship were safe." Phillips also added, "I never lost hope for myself, but I didn't see a good
ending coming out of it." All of this before his rescue by Navy SEAL snipers on April 12,
2009. Phillips commented in his interview that the rendition of the events was accurate,
adding, "When I met him I told him if he's going to play me he's going to have to put
on a little weight and get a little better-looking and he did neither."
Since the release of Captain Phillips, there has been controversy over its portrayal of
Phillips, with several crew members claiming that he was not the hero presented in the
film. Phillips said to CNN's Drew Griffin in 2010
and in a court deposition in 2013 that he ignored the numerous warnings that urged him
to go farther out to sea. When asked last year why he decided not to take the ship farther
offshore, Phillips testified, "I don't believe 600 miles would make you safe. I didn't believe
1,200 miles would make you safe. As I told the crew, it would be a matter of when, not
if... We were always in this area." Phillips returned to sea fourteen months after
the pirate attack.