I'd give the film a 9.5 or 10. It is of the same quality as Act
of Valor, but with greater intensity and investment in the main
character. A nice retelling of Captain Phillips' ordeal back
in 2009. A solid testament to the US Navy's role in the piratical
waters off the African coast, and the US Navy SEALs, who train
constantly for these kinds of hostile takeovers. Excellent.
Here is the Wikipedia write-up, from two separate pages:
On April 7, 2009 the US Maritime Administration, following NATO advisories, released a Somalia Gulf of Aden advisory to Mariners recommending ships to stay at least 600 nmi (1,100 km) off the coast of Somalia.
With these advisories well in effect, on April 8, 2009, four Somali pirates boarded the Maersk Alabama when it was located 240 nautical miles (440 km; 280 mi) southeast of the Somalia 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 Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya. (source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Maersk_Alabama)
Richard Phillips was captain of the MV Maersk Alabama at the time it was held hostage by Somali pirates during the cargo ship's hijacking in April 2009. His actions during the incident have been described as heroic, although some crew members have considered him as reckless.
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.[11] As the pirates were boarding the ship, the crew members locked themselves in the engine room[12] while the captain and two other crew members remained on the bridge.[citation needed]
The crew then took control of the ship from the steering gear room.[citation needed] The pirates were thus unable to control the ship. The crew later used "brute force" to overpower one of the pirates,[12] Abduwali Muse, and free one of the hostages, Abu Thair Mohd Zahid Reza.[citation needed] Frustrated, the pirates decided to leave the ship, and took Phillips with them to a lifeboat as their bargaining chip.[citation needed] The crew attempted to exchange this captured pirate, whom they had kept tied up for twelve hours,[13] for Phillips. The captured pirate was released but the pirates refused to release Phillips.[14] After running out of fuel in the ship's man overboard boat, they transferred and left in the ship's covered lifeboat, taking Phillips with them. The lifeboat carried ten days of food rations, water and basic survival supplies.[14]
On April 8, the destroyer USS Bainbridge and the frigate USS Halyburton were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in response to a hostage situation, and reached Maersk Alabama early on April 9.[15] 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.[15] The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation secured the ship as a crime scene.[16]
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.[17] [18][19]
Three days later, on Sunday, April 12, U.S. Navy marksmen from SEAL Team 6 opened fire with .30 caliber SR-25 precision rifles and killed the three pirates on the lifeboat, and Phillips was rescued in good condition.[20][21] 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.[22][23][24] Navy SEAL snipers on Bainbridge's fantail opened fire, killing the three pirates with bullets to the head,[25] one of whom was named Ali Aden Elmi, another whose last name was Hamac, and the third unidentified.[26] 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.[20][21]
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.[27] He later pled guilty to piracy charges and was sentenced to over 33 years in prison.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Phillips_%28merchant_mariner%29)
