When was the maersk alabama hijacking

The following are six misconceptions from the movie: The lawsuit filed by the crewmembers is not a publicity stunt tied to the release of the film. The lawsuit was filed in , nearly three years prior to the conception of Captain Phillips.

The defendants deliberately chose to not settle the lawsuit quickly, likely knowing the release of the film could benefit their case. The real Captain Phillips is not the hero portrayed so well by Tom Hanks in the film.

The facts surrounding the event, as told by crewmembers and witnesses, along with the communications between the Captain and Maersk, reveal that Captain Phillips knowingly placed the lives of his crew in danger by sailing into dangerous waters in an effort to save time and money. The crew fought back valiantly against pirates who were armed with automatic weapons, using primitive tools, such as pieces of pipe.

The Maersk Alabama pirate attack was not the result of an unlucky, unpredictable event. Captain Phillips and Maersk received multiple daily reports of pirate attacks in the area and warnings to stay more than miles from the coast. Instead, Captain Phillips chose to sail as close to miles from shore, and the ship was within three hundred miles of shore when the ship was attacked. There had been attempted attacks on vessels in the same area as the Maersk Alabama the week before the April hijacking, and there have been several attempted attacks on the Maersk Alabama since in the same region, all of which clearly show how dangerous the area was.

Navy, with U. This rescue would never have taken place if Captain Phillips had heeded the warnings he received and sailed in safer waters.

Since the attack, Maersk Lines Limited has not refunded the U. The company did settle the lawsuit brought by nine of the crewmembers for a confidential amount in , before the case was set to go to trial.

The reason the crew was sent unarmed and unprotected into pirate-infested waters was due a contract Maersk Lines Limited had to deliver humanitarian aid and cargo to Kenya. The captain had the option of staying outside the nautical mile safety zone For the April trip, they hired on an American crew, contracted by Waterman Steamship Corporation, to man the Maersk Alabama for this voyage.

However, Maersk did not tell the crew they would be traveling in pirate-infested waters. The crew and captain, all experienced mariners, conducted their typical safety meetings as they traveled through the Gulf of Aden and down the eastern coast of Africa to their destination. Our research into the events surrounding the hijacking revealed multiple assertions that Captain Phillips did not conduct any pirate-attack safety drills.

Captain Phillips, after discussing the route with Maersk, decided that traveling outside the nautical mile safety zone would take too much time and be too expensive. He decided that he would take the ship down a route much closer to shore and to pirates — within nautical miles of the coast in an area where 39 pirate attacks had occurred the previous week. According to his crew, Captain Phillips claimed he was not scared of pirates and supposedly ignored the pleas from his crew to avoid that route.

The attack on the Maersk Alabama was the first time an American ship had been hijacked by pirates since Since , piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping and commerce. Modern-day pirates in the area are driven by social and economic factors.

Illegal dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters destroyed the fishing industry, and the aftermath of civil war led to fishermen forming armed groups to exact justice and defend their territorial waters in the absence of an effective national coast guard.

As piracy became more and more lucrative, financial gain became their main objective. They took control of larger, faster vessels and attacked larger cargo ships and oil tankers for ransom and for profit. Their captured goods were sold on the black market and they received large ransom payments from global shipping companies. Somali piracy quickly morphed into organized crime, and by , pirates conducted attacks on vessels. But countries taking military action to thwart pirate attacks could be seen as encroaching on the sovereignty of Somalia, so businesses invested in high-premium insurance coverage that covered pirate attacks.

These policies would pay ransoms in the event of a pirate attack on a vessel. Get timely insider information that you can use to better manage your entire logistics operation. Start your FREE subscription today! Latest Whitepaper. The Future of Motor Freight Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter. Sign up today to receive our FREE, weekly email newsletter! The ship, with a crew of 20, loaded with 17, metric tons of cargo, was bound for Mombasa, Kenya. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Maersk Alabama in The crew members of the Maersk Alabama had received anti-piracy training from union training schools, and had drilled aboard the ship a day previously.

Their training included the use of small arms, anti-terror, basic safety, first aid, and other security-related courses. Nonetheless, the ship was boarded. Perry then shut down all ship systems and the entire vessel "went black. Perry remained outside the secure room lying in wait, knife in hand, for a visit from the pirates who were trying to locate the missing crew members in order to gain control of the ship and presumably sail it to Somalia. Perry tackled the ringleader of the pirates and took him prisoner after a cat-and-mouse chase in a darkened engine room.

The seamen on watch at the time stabbed one pirate in the hand. The crew attempted to exchange the pirate they had captured [10] for the captain, but the exchange went awry and after the crew released their captive, the pirates refused to honor the agreement.

Captain Phillips escorted the pirates to a lifeboat to show them how to operate it, but then the pirates fled with the Captain. Aasheim retook command of the ship. Phillips had relieved Aasheim nine days earlier. The lifeboat itself was covered and contained plenty of food and water but lacked basic comforts, including a toilet or ventilation.

The Halyburton held two SHB helicopters on board. Both vessels stayed several hundred yards away, out of the pirates' range of fire. A P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft secured aerial footage and reconnaissance.

Radio communication between the two ships was established. Four foreign vessels held by pirates headed towards the lifeboat.

On 10 April , Phillips attempted to escape from the lifeboat but was recaptured after the captors fired shots. The pirates then threw a phone — and a two-way radio dropped to them by the U. Navy — into the ocean, fearing the Americans were somehow using the equipment to give instructions to the captain.

The U. The pirates' strategy was to link up with their comrades, who were holding various other hostages, and to get Phillips to Somalia where they could hide him and make a rescue more difficult for the Americans.