Maersk Alabama Hijacking
The Maersk Alabama Hijacking
A horrible, yet completely unexpected, incident occurred on April 8th, 2009 known as the Maersk Alabama hijacking. This incident took much negotiation and time, but with the help of the Navy, the Navy S.E.A.L and others, was resolved successfully. In other words, the hijacking was primarily a chain of nautical events that were initiated by four Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. The pirates detained the cargo ship 240 nautical miles southeast of Eyl, Somalia, which is where they were alleged to have resided. After the U.S. Navy rescued Phillips on April 12, 2009, the hijacking was resolved. It was the first successful pirate seizure of a ship since the 19th century. It was learned that it was the sixth vessel in a week to be attacked by pirates who had previously extorted ransoms in the a lot of money.
The cargo ship was boarded with a crew of exactly 23 men. The ship was loaded with about 17,000 tons of cargo and after making a brief stop in Djibouti, it was due to arrive in Mombasa, Kenya as shown in the movie. Prior to departing, the movie shows Captain Phillips checking if all of the gates on the ship are closed and buckling down on security but this is an element added by media. The Chief Engineer, Mike Perry, reported that the actual Captain Phillips did not, in fact, lock the bridge even when the attacking pirates were known to be on board. On April 8th, 2009, four pirates from Somalia boarded the ship and attacked the ship. This was the same number of pirates shown in the movie. The movie, Captain Phillips, shows the men to be in the middle of a security drill but in reality they were in the process of a fire drill. The members of the Maersk Alabama ship had gone through an anti-piracy training and had previously drilled once aboard the ship. Their training was composed of the use of flares, basic safety, first aid, anti-terror, and more. In the movie, the crew is preparing fire hoses in order to put distance between the
A horrible, yet completely unexpected, incident occurred on April 8th, 2009 known as the Maersk Alabama hijacking. This incident took much negotiation and time, but with the help of the Navy, the Navy S.E.A.L and others, was resolved successfully. In other words, the hijacking was primarily a chain of nautical events that were initiated by four Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. The pirates detained the cargo ship 240 nautical miles southeast of Eyl, Somalia, which is where they were alleged to have resided. After the U.S. Navy rescued Phillips on April 12, 2009, the hijacking was resolved. It was the first successful pirate seizure of a ship since the 19th century. It was learned that it was the sixth vessel in a week to be attacked by pirates who had previously extorted ransoms in the a lot of money.
The cargo ship was boarded with a crew of exactly 23 men. The ship was loaded with about 17,000 tons of cargo and after making a brief stop in Djibouti, it was due to arrive in Mombasa, Kenya as shown in the movie. Prior to departing, the movie shows Captain Phillips checking if all of the gates on the ship are closed and buckling down on security but this is an element added by media. The Chief Engineer, Mike Perry, reported that the actual Captain Phillips did not, in fact, lock the bridge even when the attacking pirates were known to be on board. On April 8th, 2009, four pirates from Somalia boarded the ship and attacked the ship. This was the same number of pirates shown in the movie. The movie, Captain Phillips, shows the men to be in the middle of a security drill but in reality they were in the process of a fire drill. The members of the Maersk Alabama ship had gone through an anti-piracy training and had previously drilled once aboard the ship. Their training was composed of the use of flares, basic safety, first aid, anti-terror, and more. In the movie, the crew is preparing fire hoses in order to put distance between the
Bibliography: Axe, David. "8,000 Miles, 96 Hours, 3 Dead Pirates: Inside a Navy SEAL Rescue." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 17 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. <http://www.wired.com/2012/10/navy-seals-pirates/all/>. Dockterman, Eliana. "The True Tale of Captain Phillips." Time. Time Inc, 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/12/movie-fact-check-captain-phillips/>. Escobedo, Tricia, Drew Griffin, and David Fitzpatrick. "Controversy Surrounds New Tom Hanks Movie, 'Captain Phillips '" CNN. Cable News Network, 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/08/showbiz/captain-phillips-movie-controversy/>. Hawkins, Kristal. "Pirates: The Maersk Alabama." Crime Library. Turner Entertainment Networks Inc., 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/piracy-maersk-alabama/1.html>. N.a. "Captain Phillips (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Phillips_%28film%29>.