capt phillips?

[wicksy77]

Seriously? Never paid much attention to it until now. Just watched the movie. Can't believe this guy is seen as hero. They had a crew of 23 with the ability to communicate through radio, and defenses in place according to the movie. ie water spraying everywhere and flares. 4 pirates on a ducking john boat overwhelmed you? This has to be some Hollywood bullshit.

 

[BubsFinn]

The words “based on a true story” might as well be “we wrote a complete work of fiction but used the names of some actual people.”

 

[coasterhawk75]

Well, they did have guns, albeit crappy ones. The whole incident shouldn't have happened though. According to official reports the multiple emails received by Phillips advised ships to stay at least 600 miles from the coast of Somalia. Phillips basically ignored the warnings to save fuel and time The attacks happened less than 300 miles from the Somali coast.;
Some of the crew filed suit against Maersk and the captain for putting them at risk. They certainly don';t think of him as a hero.

 

[IMCC965]

This is how pirates take over ships. They are now seizing ships 2k miles of Somalia.

90%+ of those ships are insured by Lloyds of London and in order for them to be insured, they don't allow weapons onboard.

This is what I did on my third deployment overseas, so it doesn't take much for a pirate to seize a cargo vessel. The crews aren't trained for self-defense, no weapons, low board vessels are easy to board, and knowing that most countries will pay the ransom rather then take the ship back by force is all the Somalis need to keep their lucrative business going.